Sonic the Hedgehog: The Mobius Wars
by metallicaoffspring0309
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog fights a war for the fate of Mobius. Together with the Freedom Fighters, The Chaotix, GUN, and The Order of the Celestites, can he save the world from the Eggman Empire, Mammoth Mogul, and his greatest threat, The Order of the Phoenix?
1. Prolouge

Chapter 1

Fifty One Years Ago…

Location: Space Colony Ark

Professor Gerald Robotnik stood in a lab with several scientists wearing white coats.

Each of them were working on consoles and computers, entering data into each of them.

In the middle of the room laid a table. Upon the table laid a body underneath a white sheet.

It was unmoving. By all means of the word's definition… it was dead.

The Professor stood next to a next to a lever and placed his hand on it. He glanced one final time at the body, and pulled the lever.

There was a bright light, and electricity flowed from tubes. The body lying on the table shook violently.

After a few minutes, Gerald pushed the lever back up and the body stopped shaking.

Gerald took off the goggles on his eyes and removed the sheet that covered the body.

It was the body of a three foot Mobian hedgehog. Its fur was pale white, almost like snow, and it remained unmoving,

Gerald sighed. "This is our fifth attempt, and still the body won't come to life."

One of the scientists came up to him and said "Last time, we had the blood of the leader of the Black Arms race, Black Doom, to give Shadow life. Why aren't we using his blood instead of the dead body of a Mobian?"

"Because I want to create other ways of being able to create life. Also…"

Gerald looked away from the scientist sadly.

"I do not fully trust Black Doom. I don't know how Shadow will end up turning out. Black Doom might have done something to the experiment that I was not aware of. So this will be my back up plan…"

"Professor Gerald!" cried a man who was running into the lab.

"I've got something from below! A failed experiment from Soleanna!"

Gerald was angry.

"I'm in the middle of something important. Why did you bring this to my attention during my experiment?" he asked.

"Because I believe it's a solution to your problem!" said the man.

"The experiment was to create a substance that could provide life force and energy. With your research, perhaps we could perfect it and use it to give life to your second Ultimate Lifeform!"

Gerald looked interested.

"Let me see the data on the substance." Said Gerald.

The scientist handed him a clip board.

Gerald took it and looked over it. Then he smiled.

"This just might work!" he cried. "And I've already identified the flaw in their design!"

Gerald glanced at the scientist and said "Let's get to work."

For the next few days Gerald and the other scientists were working in the lab.

Gerald's granddaughter Maria Robotnik peered in through the window on the door to the lab where Gerald and the scientists were working.

"What are you doing here, Maria?" asked a voice behind him.

Maria turned around and saw Professor Gerald's ultimate creation. The Ultimate Lifeform: Shadow the Hedgehog.

"You know your Grandfather doesn't like it when you spy on his experiments." He said.

Maria smiled and nodded. "I know. But I heard Grandfather say he was on the verge of a new discovery." She said.

"I know how much you appreciate your Grandfather's work Maria…" said Shadow. "But in case something goes wrong with the experiment, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Maria closed her eyes and smiled. Then she hugged Shadow.

Shadow had a surprised look on his face.

Then Maria let go of him and smiled.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Shadow." Said Maria.

Shadow smiled.

Maria got up and held his hand. The two walked away from the lab.

Meanwhile, inside the lab, Gerald and the other scientists were making preparations for the final stage of the experiment.

They had bonded the substance to the dead body, which had changed its fur color from white to black.

Gerald pulled down on the lever and started the experiment again.

As before, electricity and lights flashed everywhere, and the body was shaking violently.

Then Gerald pushed up on the lever, and everything stopped.

Gerald glanced at the body and… nothing happened.

Gerald and the other scientists sighed.

"How unfortunate." He said.

"Let's take a break everyone. We'll try again later."

Everyone sighed and nodded. Then they all walked out with an aggravated look on their face.

It was silent.

Then the body opened its eyes. A purple energy began to swirl around the body. The body looked around. Then it looked down at its body.

Its eyes grew wide.

Then it said in a quiet voice "…What?".

The body felt rage. Then it growled. "…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?" it screamed.

Its power caused an explosion in the lab.

The fires began to spread everywhere.

As Shadow ran to the lab to investigate, he was surprised to see the body in the fire, growling. It was angry. Furious. It howled.

"W-what is that thing?" asked Shadow.

It began to charge at Shadow…

Five Years Ago…

Central City

There was said to be an explosion of some sort at the Central City Middle School.

Firefighters and other authorities rushed to the scene.

A fire truck pulled up to the front of the school.

As Mobian fire fighters exited the truck, they were shocked to see what had happened.

Several formations of giant crystals had grown through the roof out the building.

There were fires and rubble everywhere.

A female fox firefighter walked over to a teacher. "What happened here?" she asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

The teacher was a female purple mongoose.

"Two of the students were bullying another student. Suddenly, the student that was getting bullied screamed, then glowed pink and…"

The teacher glanced at the crystals and said "This happened."

The firefighter glanced at the crystals too. "Incredible..." She said.

The fire fighters went to work on putting out the fires.

Three Years Ago…

On an island located in the middle of the Mobian Ocean…

Jewel walked through the halls of the Celestine Palace alongside her master, Wendu.

Wendu was a tall, gray furred wolf.

Jewel had been training with Wendu in order to obtain a bigger grasp on her powers, so that she might use them as an eventual member of the Celestites.

"Jewel…" said Wendu. "Have you ever heard the tale of the original Order of the Celestites and the Order of the Phoenix?"

Jewel shyly shook her head.

"Thousands of years ago…

There was a secret war, a war for the control of the entire world. The ancient Order of the Phoenix consisted of members that had incredible powers that were feared by many. Following their leader, the mad war-lord Jonji the Bat, the Order of the Phoenix captured all of the Chaos and Master Emeralds in order to keep others from using them to counter their efforts. Then, he created a powerful technique with which he would use to destroy the world. The original Order of the Celestites used a forbidden attack to ensnare Jonji inside of a prison made entirely out of Chaos Energy that constantly through Jonji off balance. He was never heard of or seen again."

Jewel listened to her master with great interest.

"Lately however…" said Wendu. "The Great Elders have been greatly troubled."

Jewel was curious. "Why?" she asked.

"They think that the trap is breaking. It… worries me."

Wendu glanced at Jewel and said "Because the person who placed the seal on him was your ancestor."

Jewel's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"My… ancestor?" she asked. "How do you know that it is my ancestor?"

"Because the original person who set the trap created crystal formations that would drain Jonji of his energy." Said Wendu.

"History has a tendency to repeat itself. I have a feeling that you will take on the role of the one who sealed Jonji long ago."

Jewel listened to her master in awe.

"So… I'm destined to re-seal Jonji incase the seal would break?" she asked.

Wendu nodded.

"That is why we must make you as strong as possible, so that we can set you on the path to defeating Jonji, if the seal should break."

Jewel was silent for a while.

"… I'm not sure if I can do this." She said.

Wendu knelt down next to her and said "I know that it seems impossible, but if the Crystal Sage can do it, then so can you. That's why I vow to make you incredibly strong so that you can face him. Have confidence."

Jewel looked up at Wendu and smiled. "Okay, master." she said.

Wendu smiled and put her arm on her shoulder.

"Let's go do some training." He said.

Jewel smiled and nodded. "Okay!" she said happily.

One week ago…

Location: The Dragon Kingdom

Two figures walked down a path in the Dragon Kingdom.

One was a male purple chameleon. He wore a green jacket, red and white pants, a skull belt buckle, and black boots.

The other was a yellowish orange weasel. He wore a black leather jacket with flames on the front, as well as black jeans and boots.

As the two walked, they came upon a lake. It was said that Monkey Kahn, the king of the Free People meditated there whenever he was worried or bothered.

"Do you remember the plan, Doppelganger?" asked the weasel.

The Chameleon nodded. "I heard its not very difficult tricking this monkey." He said.

"Let's hope that." Said the weasel. "I'm not going to waste my art on those that aren't worthy of it, so if he's easy to trick then you can handle it."

"Hmph." Said the Chameleon. "And they say I'm egotistical."

"Shut up and get him already." Said the weasel.

The Chameleon growled. "What makes you think you can give me orders?" asked the Chameleon.

The weasel glared at him angrily.

Doppelganger's body shifted and churned as his body began to change shape.

Suddenly Doppelganger's body was transformed into the body of a Female Squirrel wearing a blue vest and blue boots, with blue eyes and long red hair.

"Disguising myself as Princess Sally Acorn should fool the great monkey king entirely." He said.

"Y'know, it might actually work." Said a voice behind them.

Doppelganger and the yellow-orange weasel turned around and saw Monkey Khan floating on a cloud, wielding his staff.

He had blue eyes, and wore two shoulder pads with the yin yang symbols on them.

"What do you two want with me?" he asked.

Doppelganger transformed back into his original self.

"Well then, I'll let you and your precious 'art' take care of the rest." Said Doppelganger. "I'm outta here."

Doppelganger transformed into a small bird and flew away.

"Doppelganger!" cried the weasel. "Where are you going?"

"Nice comrade you've got there." Said Monkey Khan.

The weasel gritted his teeth.

"You'll just have to experience my art firsthand then!" said the Weasel.

The weasel reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out clumps of clay.

The clay glowed for a while, and transformed into something that resembled shuriken.

The weasel tossed them.

Monkey Khan extended his rod towards him, and lightning flashed from it.

It zapped the shuriken and they exploded.

Once the dust from the explosion cleared, Monkey Khan looked around.

His opponent was no where in sight.

"He uses explosives?" Monkey Khan said to himself. He looked around. Suddenly, he felt rumbling in the ground beneath him.

He leaped into the air, as a storm cloud formed beneath him. He landed on it.

When he looked below, he saw that two spiders made from clay had burrowed up from the ground.

"I should be safe if I'm in the air out of its range."

"You're never safe from my art." Said the voice of the weasel.

The spiders began to changer shape. They molded into giant birds and flew in the air towards Monkey Khan.

They flew to fast for Monkey Khan to do anything, and they exploded near him.

The force from the explosion knocked Monkey Khan off of his cloud.

Monkey Khan fell to the ground.

His opponent was flying on a giant clay bird.

"They call me the Detonator." Said the Weasel. "And they've got a good reason to do so."

Monkey Khan got on his feet. "I've heard of you!" he said. "You're the bomb terrorist that's on the Guardian Unit of Nation's most wanted list!"

Detonator smiled. "That's me." He said.

"I heard you died by suicide bombing!" said Monkey Khan.

"That was a clay clone of mine." He said. "It was used to fool people into thinking that I had killed myself."

"Why did you do it?" asked Monkey Khan.

"Why do you want to know so much about me?" he asked. "Are you this social with all of your opponents?"

"For me, it makes fights more interesting." Said Monkey Khan.

Detonator scoffed.

"Take this!" he cried.

Two more birds attacked Monkey Khan. He leaped over to the left, and dodged the attack.

The birds exploded in the area where Monkey Khan was standing.

Monkey Khan launched another lightning blast at Detonator. The strike was incredibly fast and struck the bird Detonator was standing on.

Detonator leaped off of the bird before it exploded. He landed on the ground.

"EAT THIS!" cried Detonator.

Two caterpillars sprang from the ground and wrapped themselves around Monkey Khan.

"HA!" cried Detonator as he clapped his hands and the caterpillars exploded.

Monkey Khan cried out in pain as the explosion engulfed him.

Detonator smiled.

Monkey Khan fell to the ground, unconscious.

"In the end, he didn't put up much of a fight." Said Detonator.

"The next time I see Doppelganger, I'll give him a taste of my art for deserting me."

"Is it over?" said a voice behind him.

Doppelganger and a large, brown fox with green eyes, brown hair, and grey jeans were standing behind him. The fox wasn't wearing a shirt, and had strange stitches all over his body and arms.

"You take too long, Detonator." Said the large fox.

Detonator gave him an irritated look.

"Ragdoll, you insult my art." He said.

"You always have to go and turn everything into a circus. This was a mission, Detonator." Said the fox.

Detonator gritted his teeth. "I won't stand here and let my art be judged by insolence like you!" he cried.

Detonator took some more explosive clay out of his pouch. In his hands, they molded into small birds, and they flew towards Ragdoll.

Doppelganger got out of the way, while Ragdoll stood there as the birds flew towards him.

The birds exploded, and engulfed Ragdoll in the explosion. But, he did not scream or cry out.

Once the smoke cleared, Ragdoll's fur was darker in color.

"Detonator, you are a fool." He said.

Ragdoll's fur soon returned to its original shade of brown.

"You and I fighting is so unproductive. Let's just take the so called 'King of the Free People' and get out of here."

Ragdoll picked up Monkey Khan and threw him over his shoulder.

Detonator growled, as he and Doppelganger followed behind him.

One day ago…

Location: New Mobotropolis

Sonic the Hedgehog stood over a ledge overlooking the ruins of the old city of Knothole.

Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters, walked up behind him and said "I thought I'd find you here."

Sonic turned toward Sally and smiled. Then he glanced back at the ashes of Knothole.

"The Iron Queen is imprisoned." He said. "But Eggman's escaped. We haven't heard anything from Mammoth Mogul, or any bounty hunter scum in a while. Scourge is still trapped in the No Zone, and the Suppression Squad is still on Moebius."

Sally smiled and said "You sound worried."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, your right." He said. "That's because we have so many threats waiting to attack us, and probably new threats that we haven't even come across yet. It makes me worried and antsy."

Sally smiled and said "Come to Freedom HQ. I've got something to show you…"

Sonic followed Sally into Freedom HQ. He looked around and saw his friends Miles "Tails" Prower and Rotor Walrus waiting for them. "What are you trying to show me, Sal?" asked Sonic.

Sally smiled and said "It's a surprise."

She and Sonic stepped up onto a stage with the others.

Rotor spoke into a microphone on a console and spoke "Nicole?" into it.

"Yes?" said the voice of Nicole, the name of the A.I. computer program that kept Mobius running.

"Beam us up onto the station." He said. "Understood." Said Nicole.

"What does that mean?" asked Sonic.

"You'll see!" said Sally.

Suddenly, there was a bright light and the Freedom Fighters disappeared.

When the bright light stopped, and Sonic got his sight back, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Woah!" he cried. "Incredible!"

What Sonic saw, was a massive space station! There were computers, hallways, monitors…it made Sonic want to run.

And so he did. He ran around the entire place and looked around.

"This…place…is…huge!" he said.

He ran back in front of Sally and the other Freedom Fighters.

"When did you guys make this?" Sally crossed her arms and said "Its been in development for a while now." Said Sally.

"We used the designs from the old Robotnik Orbital Platform, and we kept it a secret to surprise you." Said Tails.

Sonic ran over to Tails and gave him a noogy. "Pretty cool surprise, bud!" said Sonic.

Tails laughed and said "Thanks! Now let go!"

Rotor tapped Sonic on his shoulder to get his attention.

"That's not the only thing!" he said. "Come with me!"

Rotor led Sonic into a room with a giant monitor.

Sally followed.

Rotor got on the console and brought up a list of people whom Sonic recognized.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is a detailed list of all of our allies on Mobius." Said Sally. "GUN, the Chaotix, other Freedom Fighter teams, every ally we know is on this list."

"But that's not we wanted to show you." Said Rotor. "This is." Rotor brought up a new list.

The list was full of people Sonic didn't recognize.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"These are some possible new additions to the Freedom Fighters. They each have interesting powers and skills that would make them great assets to any Freedom Fighter team."

"Cool!" said Sonic.

"You, me, and Tails are going to travel the world and meet them, so we can create more Freedom Fighter teams. That way, our list of allies can expand and grow, and we can better ensure safety and security over the entire planet." Said Sally.

Sonic pounded his fist into his palm with excitement. "Great!" he said. "When do we leave?"

"Tomarrow." Said Sally. "So pack your bags."

Sonic nodded. "Okay!" he said. "This should be fun!"

Meanwhile…

In the skies above Mobius, a fleet of war ships were flying through the sky at incredible speeds.

It was a fleet consisting of several copies of one of Dr. Eggman's most fearsome creation: The Egg Phoenix. A war ship that is incredibly fast, and its weapons consist of several widespread flame throwers, and made it the perfect fleet for a frontal assault on the city of New Mobotropolis.

On the lead ship of the fleet stood the diabolical genius, Dr. Eggman and his henchman, Snively.

"We'll be approaching New Mobotropolis in about a day, sir." He said.

"Excellent." Said Dr. Eggman. "Wait for the scouting party's signal before we attack." He said.

"Understood sir." Said Snively.

"This time, I will ensure the end of that Hedgehog once and for all. For beating me… for humiliating me…"

Dr. Eggman clenched his fists.

"For breaking my mind… you will pay Hedgehog. This time I'm not taking any prisoners. I will slowly destroy everything that Sonic and the Freedom Fighters stood for. I WILL have my final vengeance."

"Very good sir." Said Snively.

'Perhaps now, that fat fool will take things more seriously then before.' He thought. '…let's hope so.'

Dr. Eggman was silent as the fleet grew closer and closer to New Mobotropolis.


	2. Attack of the Order, Eggman Invades

A pair of eyes awoke in darkness.

Where am I? thought the bearer of the eyes.

He outstretched his arms until they pressed against some glass. He was inside some sort of stasis pod. He kicked the pod open and jumped out. He turned back and walked towards the pod. He reached inside of it and pulled out two swords. He slammed the two sword hilts together to form a mighty double sided blade. He tucked the blade into a pouch on his back and walked off, into the woods.

He was a black hedgehog, with red eyes and red spiky hair who wore a gray sweatshirt with red stripes on the sleeves. He wore red shorts with a race track flag pattern on the sides of the legs.

He also wore black spiked boots.

"Who am I?" he said out loud to himself. He put his hand on his head, straining his brain to give him images of his past. Zant. He thought to himself.

"My name is Zant the Hedgehog." He said to himself, agonizingly.

"Why… does it hurt so much…to think?" He continued his self-monologue of his memories.

"I can teleport, my sword can absorb Chaos Energy and…" Zant stopped. He saw the image of someone strange. A face he doesn't recall. It was the face of a black and red hedgehog.

Who is he? Zant thought to himself.

Zant walked on.

Dante Nantal ran through the forest of the dragon kingdom.

She was searching for the source of a local explosion she had recently heard.

'It better be what I think it is.' She thought to herself. 'I spent the last month searching for clues to the location of these guys.'

She was a black hedgehog with blue eyes who wore a white shirt and white pants with flames towards the end of the legs. She also wore red and white boots.

As she ran, she noticed Zant walking up ahead.

'That must be one of them!' she thought to herself. 'A member of the Order of the Phoenix…! Looks like its my lucky day!'

She charged towards him, leaped into the air and raised her left leg for a drop kick.

Zant turned around, pulled out his duel sword and blocked the kick with his sword hilt.

"What the heck?" he cried. "Who are you?"

Dante back flipped and landed on her feet. "My name is Dante Nantal. Now tell me where my friends are!"

Zant raised his eye brow.

"What the heck are you talking about?" he asked.

Dante growled. "Don't act like you don't know!"

Her hands glowed red and she uprooted a tree. Then she swung it at Zant.

Zant leaped into the air and did a front flip over the tree. He sliced it in half and landed in front of Dante.

He grabbed the collar of her shirt and looked at her dead in the eye.

"I don't know who you are, I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't even know where I am!" he said.

"Liar!" cried Dante. "You're after me! You've kidnapped the rest of my friends, and your after me!"

"I…am…NOT!" cried Zant.

"We are." Said a voice behind them.

A hand attached to some threads shot seeming from no where at Zant and grabbed his throat.

Zant cried out in pain as the hand recoiled back to where it was shot from, and dragged Zant across the ground.

The hand belonged to Ragdoll the Fox, who lifted Zant into the air. Detonator the Weasel was standing next to him.

"After that fantastic display, we can't let you two go." Said Detonator. "So we're bringing you in. Un."

Detonator grabbed some clay from his pouch, and it molded into a small bird. He sent it flying at Dante.

She threw up her arms and a shield of yellow energy formed in front of her.

The bird exploded on the outside of the shield.

When the smoke faded away, Dante was shown to be unharmed.

Zant was being choked.

Ragdoll laughed as the breath was being squeezed out of Zant.

Suddenly, Zant disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ragdoll looked around. "A teleporter, eh?" he said to himself.

He looked around. Suddenly, he felt something stab him in the back.

It was Zant's sword. He had teleported behind him and stabbed him in the back.

"Don't take me lightly." He whispered in Ragdoll's ear.

"I didn't stab you in a vital area. But I will if you don't tell me what the hell is going on."

Ragdoll laughed. "Who's taking who lightly?" he asked.

More threads grew out of Ragdoll's back, and wrapped themselves around Zant's limbs.

The threads slammed him against a tree. A few of the threads wrapped around Zant's neck and began to choke him.

"The sooner I make you pass out the sooner I can get you back to the leader." Said Ragdoll. "So shut up and pass out already!"

The threads squeezed Zant's neck harder. Then Zant teleported out of the threads' grasp.

"Hmm…" said Ragdoll. "The constant teleporting could get a bit out of hand…"

Zant teleported in front of Ragdoll and kicked him in the face.

Ragdoll grunted and swung his fist at him, but Zant had already teleported behind him and sliced his back with his sword.

Ragdoll tried swinging his fist behind him, but Zant had teleported in front of him and tripped him up

Ragdoll fell to the ground on his back.

Zant teleported in front of him and stabbed him in the chest.

Ragdoll cried out in pain.

Zant smiled as he pulled the blade out of Ragdoll's chest.

Suddenly, something inside of Ragdoll's chest began to bounce around wildly.

Zant felt sick as he watched a heart launch out from Ragdoll's body.

The heart was sliced in half however, and Ragdoll's blood was everywhere.

"W-what are you…?" asked Zant.

Ragdoll laughed as he stood up and said "I have the power to steal hearts from my opponents. I can store up to five hearts at once in my own body, and if one of those hearts fails…"

Ragdoll glanced over to the sliced heart. "Then my body will automatically eject it and move on to the next one."

Ragdoll smiled. "You've killed me once. Let's see you do it four more times."

Ragdoll leaped up into the air and brought his fists down upon the ground where Zant was standing.

Zant leaped out of the way of the attack, as it left a crater on the ground.

'I'm outmatched, and I was taken by surprised.' Thought Zant. 'I need to get out of here. But should I really leave Dante behind?'

Ragdoll commenced his assault by uprooting a tree and attempting to bash Zant with it.

Zant back flipped over the tree.

"Geez!" he cried. "He's as strong as Dante!"

Zant teleported away.

Ragdoll looked around. "Where did you go?" he cried.

Meanwhile, Dante was having a hard time putting up with her opponent. She figured out that her opponent uses explosive clay that molds and shapes itself into different creatures. Now the next thing she needed to figure out was how to get the jump on this guy.

She was behind a shield of her N-RGY. Detonator was constantly bombarding the shield with his explosives. Any moment now her shield would give out and she would be vulnerable to a deadly attack. Which is what Detonator wants.

'I can't stand here like a sitting duck forever.' She thought. 'I need to get out of his range of attack.'

"Need a hand?" said a voice behind her.

She turned around and saw Zant.

Zant was smiling at her. He put his hand on her shoulder and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When the smoke from Detonator's bombs disappeared, Dante and Zant were gone.

Detonator cursed. Ragdoll came up behind him.

"One of them is a teleporter." Said Ragdoll. "Did they already escape?"

Detonator turned to him with a scowl on his face. "Yes." He said.

Now Ragdoll cursed. Enraged, he cried out "Its because you are so weak that you let them escape!".

"ME?" cried Detonator. "YOU let him escape too! And judging from the fact that you're covered in blood, I'll bet that he took out one of your hearts, am I right?"

"I…! He…! …you!..." stammered Ragdoll.

"Enough!" said a voice behind them.

Detonator and Ragdoll turned to see Doppelganger.

"I don't know the range that the teleporter can move within," said Doppelganger. "So Detonator and I should take to the skies and search the nearby area for them. We also need to keep an eye out for Sonic, or anyone else from the Dragon Kingdom that might want to come to the monkey king's rescue."

Ragdoll and Detonator nodded.

"Fine then." Said Detonator.

Detonator took out some clay, and molded it into a giant bird. He jumped upon it and it took off.

Doppelganger transformed into a small bird and took off in a different direction.

Ragdoll went to search for the enemy on foot.

Sonic met with Sally, Tails, and Amy at Freedom HQ.

"Well guys…" said Sally. "Tails has the Tornado prepped and ready to go. We'll be taking off shortly to go on our recruiting mission…"

A hologram of the computer A.I. NICOLE appeared on in front of the three. "Sally," she said. "I'm receiving a distress call from the Dragon Kingdom. They're saying that Monkey Khan has been kidnapped."

Sally looked at her with a surprised look on her face.

"No…!" she whispered to herself.

Sonic gave Sally a concerned look.

"Well… what are we going to do Sally?" asked Amy, who was worried about Sally as well.

"Its obvious what we'll do!" said Sonic. "We go out and rescue him! Who's kidnapped him?"

"Unknown." Said NICOLE. "It is known that he uses explosives. He was sighted with two other companions, but it is unknown if they have any special abilities or weapons."

Sally nodded.

Tails walked into the room and asked "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Plot a new course Tails." Said Sally. "We're going to go and rescue Ken."

"Monkey Khan's been kidnapped?" asked Tails.

Sally nodded.

"Well, let's leave now." Said Sonic.

"Bunnie and Antoine should be able to protect the city themselves while we're gone, and the Chaotix are on Angel Island incase the city is attacked." Said Sally. "We should be fine."

Sonic pounded his fist into his palm with excitement. "Well, let's not keep Banana Brains waiting." He said. "Let's go."

Sonic, Amy, Sally, and Tails took off in the Tornado on their way to the Dragon Kingdom.

From the control room of the Freedom Fighter space station, Rotor Walrus checked the status of the city of New Megaopolis. There were no problems regarding the city, all of the defense measures were running smoothly and NICOLE was operating with 120% efficiency.

Seemed like now was a good time for Rotor to take his leave.

Suddenly, the wireless radio on the space station that was used to communicate with the Freedom Fighters down on the planet began to beep.

Rotor walked up to the monitor to see who it was.

The monitor said it was Princess Sally, sending an urgent message.

Rotor activated it and spoke into the microphone.

"Sally?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"This isn't the princess, walrus." Said the voice on the other end.

"I must admit, that the creation of a space station was a clever idea. However, its development did not go unnoticed."

"Who is this?" asked Rotor.

"You've forgotten my voice?" asked the person on the other end. "I guess all of your years as a Freedom Fighter were in vain, eh?"

"…Eggman." Said Rotor.

"Correct." Said the voice on the other end.

"Before the final stages of the station went into place, I was able to hack the system, download all the files onto my personal database, and upload a virus, all simultaneously. Your space station is now under my control Walrus."

The image of the Eggman Empire symbol appeared on the monitor.

"And you are my first prisoner of war."

Zant and Dante ran until Dante couldn't run anymore.

Dante sat down on the ground and panted.

"I can't go anymore." She said. "I need to catch my breath."

Zant turned towards her and noticed her leg.

It was badly burned.

Zant extended his hand to touch it. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Dante grabbed his and in one swift motion. "Let's get one thing straight." She said. "Just because we were both attacked by members of the Order of the Phoenix doesn't mean we're friends."

"Who are those guys?" asked Zant. "And what's going on?"

"Have you been sleeping under a rock for the past few years?" asked Dante.

"Actually… something like that…" said Zant.

Dante gave him a strange look.

Zant shook his head. "Nevermind." He said. "Tell me what's going on."

Dante sighed. Then she gave him a stern look and said "Those guys that attacked us were part of the Order of the Phoenix. They're a group of Mobian Terrorists that are kidnapping other Mobians with super powers. Why they are, no one knows."

Then Dante looked away from him sadly. "They… they kidnapped some close friends of mine. They're after me too."

Zant gave Dante a concerned look. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said.

Zant sat down next to her and said "I'm trying to find someone too. Maybe we could help each other out?"

Dante gave him a surprised look. "A partnership? With you?" she asked.

"Well duh." Said Zant. "Anyone else here you could be partners with?"

Dante pondered the offer for a moment.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of an air plane above them, and glanced up.

Zant looked up too.

"Who is that…?" asked Zant.

Dante smiled. "If I'm right, it's the one person that might actually be able to help us."

Zant raised his eyebrow. "Who?" he asked.

"Sonic the Hedgehog." Said Dante.

Outside the dome of New Megaopolis was one of Dr. Eggman's personal favorite machines, standing in front of an army of robots. The robot doppelganger of the world's hero Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic's task was to invade the city once Dr. Eggman disabled the dome around the city, and shut NICOLE down.

Unlike the past models of Metal Sonic created by Dr. Eggman, this one was capable of feeling emotions similar to those of a real Mobian.

Right now, Metal Sonic was feeling intense excitement. He couldn't wait to destroy the home and kidnapping the friends and family of the one he was built to kill.

His army consisted of a new generation of E-Series robots. They were about the same height as Mobians, however unlike the Mobians, their heads resembled old S.W.A.T. bots. Several of the robots' limbs were outfitted with different weapons, such as guns and missile launchers. It was a fine army indeed. One that would strike fear into the hearts of the Mobians.

The dome around the city dispersed.

That was Metal Sonic's cue to invade the city.

"CHARGE!" cried Metal Sonic as he and the army of robot sentries invaded New Megaopolis.

The army's attack was swift, precise, and deadly.

With most of the city's defense measures shut down by Eggman, it wasn't hard for the robots to make prisoners of the citizens there. With only Bunnie and Antoine D'Coolette left to defend the city, they were easily captured as well.

The city was taken in the name of the Eggman Empire.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Sally were almost at the Dragon Kingdom.

"We're almost there!" said Tails as the Tornado flew through the air.

Sonic was scanning the horizon, when he saw what he though was a giant bird. "Woah!" he cried. "Look at that bird! It's huge!" He pointed at it.

Sally, Tails, and Amy looked at the bird Sonic was pointing to.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "I may be going crazy but…" she said. "Is that a person standing on top of the bird?"

Sally nodded. "Yeah, I see the person too."

Smaller birds began flying from the larger bird towards the Tornado.

"Smaller birds are flying towards the Tornado…" said Sonic.

The birds grew closer and closer towards the Tornado. When they were right next to the plane, they exploded.

"We're hit!" cried Tails.

The Tornado began to spin out of control and fall towards the ground. Everyone on the plane screamed as it fell.

Zant and Dante watched the plane fall with horror.

"No!" cried Dante. "He's the only one that can help me!"

Zant turned to Dante and said "I'll teleport over and see if they're okay…"

"You're not going anywhere." Said a voice behind them.

The two turned behind them to see Ragdoll and another Mobian with him.

It was a male blue hawk with a green Mohawk and ponytail, wearing a kung-fu robe and black kung-fu pants. He also wore red and white boots, a black head band, a blue scarf, and white wrappings around his hands.

"You two are coming with us." Said the hawk.


	3. The Tides Turn, Mysterious Stranger

Zant glared angrily at his new attackers.

He had already faced one of his attackers, the powerful fox who called himself Ragdoll once before.

But now he was up against Ragdoll and another mysterious attacker as well.

Dante was with him, but the fact that one of the attackers' powers were still unknown.

This made Zant worry, not only about him and Dante, but about the ones in the plane that had crashed near by.

There was no doubt that they would be facing powerful opponents as well.

It'd be best to end things as quickly as possible so that the ones who crashed could be attended to as quickly as possible.

But should he fight Ragdoll, or this newcomer?

It would probably be better if he fought Ragdoll, since he knew at least some of his powers.

"What's with all the waiting?" asked the mysterious blue hawk. "Let's get started!"

The blue hawk clenched his hand into a fist. It began to glow, then lightning began to flash from his hand.

He pointed his hand at the two of them and lighting flashed from his hand at Zant and Dante.

Dante blocked it with a shield of energy.

"I'll hold of the lightning guy!" said Dante. "You handle the freak!"

Zant nodded. "Got it." he said.

Zant charged at Ragdoll.

Ragdoll smiled. "Your same tricks won't work on me boy."

There was another flash of lighting that flew by Zant.

Zant glanced at Dante and saw her on the floor and the blue hawk standing over her.

The hawk laughed and said "You're too slow."

Dante began to cough up blood.

Zant grit his teeth, as he felt the rage build up inside him.

Ragdoll smiled as his hand detached itself from his hand and launched at Zant.

His hand was still connected to his arm by the strange threads that seemed to hold his body parts together.

His hand was balled up into a fist, and he punched Zant in the face.

Zant fell to the ground. His lip was bleeding.

He wiped it off and stood up.

Then he screamed as he was electrocuted from behind.

The blue hawk laughed at Zant's screaming,

"I love it when they scream!" he said.

Zant's eyes turned purple as his screams slowly turned into growls.

Struggling, he stood up, and extended both of his arms at the hawk and Ragdoll.

A purple aurora surrounded both of his hands, and they each shot a blast of darkness at both Ragdoll and the blue hawk.

The two of them were surprised as the blasts of darkness blew them away from Zant.

Zant coughed, as he fell on his knees, exhausted.

'I can't stay here.' He thought. 'I need to get Dante out of here as soon as possible.'

Zant glanced at Dante, who was lying on the ground, unconscious and badly wounded.

Zant tried to stand up again, but his legs wouldn't let him and he fell down again.

Zant glanced up and saw a figure walking towards him cloaked in a purple robe.

The figure walked towards him.

"Rest now." The figure said. "I'll get you and your friend out of here."

Zant struggled to keep conscious. However, he was able to successfully mutter three words: "Others… attacked… nearby…"

Then Zant fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Amy had survived their plane crash.

Sonic looked around and asked "Is everyone all right?"

Tails crawled out from under the wreckage. "I'm alright." He said.

Amy stood up and said "I'm alright…"

Sally's leg was caught underneath wreckage. She struggled, trying to pull it out. "I'm okay!" she said. "But my leg has been caught inside of the wreckage!"

Sonic dashed over, and he and Amy both pushed the wreckage off of Sally's leg.

"Sally's really hurt…" said Amy.

Tails came over to check.

Her leg was bleeding pretty badly. It was probably broken too.

"Let's get her out of here quick." Said Sonic.

Amy nodded.

"You will not leave this place!" said a voice from behind them.

Everyone glanced to see Detonator as well as a tall, red and shirtless Echidna with black shorts, spiked boots, spiked cufflinks, and a spiked collar. He also wore a belt with a skull on it. He carried a large ax.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Said the Echidna.

Sonic glared angrily at Detonator and the echidna. "Who are you guys?" he asked.

"I am Ares: God of War." Said the Echidna.

"And I am Detonator." Said Detonator. "I am a killer artist, as you're about to find out."

A small bird was perched on Detonator's finger.

Detonator leaned against a tree, and admired the bird.

"Sonic the Hedgehog…" he said, dreamily, still admiring the bird in his hand. "You are going to come along with us, heh heh…"

"What makes you think I will?" asked Sonic.

"Because you have no choice." Said Detonator. "If you don't my man Ares and I will kill your friends."

Sonic grit his teeth.

Tails glanced at Sally, concerned for her. Amy was growling.

"You leave Sonic alone!" she cried.

Ares glanced at Amy and chuckled.

"Such spirit." He said. "Such anger. All complimented by your tremendous beauty. If these were different conditions I would make you my bride."

"BRIDE?" cried Amy. "I don't think so! There's no way I would ever, EVER date someone as ignorant and as obnoxious as you, much less marry!"

Ares closed his eyes and chuckled. "I guess, being a god means nothing if it means I can't impress the ladies."

Ares glanced at Sally and grinned.

"That pretty lady with the screwed up leg won't go far." Said Ares. "She must be in a lot of pain. Maybe my ax and I should put her out of her misery."

"Do you guys know who you're messing with?" asked Tails. "This is Sonic the Hedgehog! The Hero of Mobius!"

Ares frowned, then glanced at Sonic.

"Then show us what you can do, 'hero'." Said Ares. "Instead of being all talk, let's see some action!"

Sonic growled and said "Your funeral bud!"

Sonic dashed towards Ares. Then, he leaped into the air and curled into a ball, and performed his traditional "spin dash" attack.

Ares blocked the attack with his ax.

Sparks flew as Sonic's spin dash collided with Ares' ax.

Sonic back flipped away from Ares, and landed on his feet.

Ares sighed. "Is that all you can do? I'm disappointed in you, you scrawny Hedgehog. I can't believe the people of this world call you 'The Hero of Mobius.'"

Sonic gritted his teeth.

'What do I do?' he thought. 'Should I take Sally and run for it? If I do that, then that Detonator guy will follow me on that bird of his, and likely send more explosives at me.'

Sonic glanced at Tails and Amy. 'I could go at super sonic speed, but I would leave Tails and Amy behind, and Ares and Detonator would attack them.'

Sonic glanced back at Detonator. 'If I have Tails take Sally out of here, Detonator will likely go after him, and I can't hold him off from the ground. Amy might be able to slow Ares down a bit, but we don't know all of his powers yet. She could get really hurt.'

Sonic closed his eyes and faced the ground. 'I've got to face it.' He thought. 'I'm in no position to go anywhere or do anything.

Sonic put his hands in the air and said "Fine. I'll go with you."

Detonator smiled. Ares sighed.

Amy, Sally, and Tails all glanced at Sonic with shocked and horrified looks on their faces.

"NO!" cried Amy.

"What are you doing Sonic?" cried Tails.

"Sonic, you can't… you can't do this!" stammered Sally.

"Disappointing." Ares said. "It seems the 'Hero of Mobius' is too afraid of our power to fight."

"Wait." Said Sonic. "I'll only go with you if you give Monkey Khan back to us, and you let my friends go."

Detonator chuckled. "Fair enough." He said. "He was just bait to lure you here anyways. We don't really need him."

Another one of Detonator's clay birds flew by. In its beak was Monkey Khan, who was badly burnt and unconscious.

The bird dropped Monkey Khan on the ground in front of them.

Ares dashed behind Sonic and pinned his arms behind his back.

Detonator walked past them carrying a leg bracelets made out of his detonation clay.

"I'm going to put these bracelets of my detonation clay on your friends." Said Detonator. "If you try to escape, I will detonate these shackles and kill them."

Detonator attached the leg bracelets to one of Tails, Amy, Sally, and Monkey Khan's legs.

Then, he formed a small bird in his hand and made it grow to a larger size.

Ares jumped on top of the bird. Detonator followed, and ordered Sonic to jump onto the bird as well.

Sonic complied.

Another small bird flew by, but it wasn't made out of Detonator's clay.

It transformed into the body of Doppelganger.

"Tell Ragdoll and Sparx that we're done here." Said Detonator. "We'll rendezvous with them back at the base."

Doppelganger nodded. "As you wish." He said. "He transformed back into a small bird and flew off.

Detonator glanced at Tails, Amy, and Sally, who were glaring at them. They were all angry and heartbroken.

He smiled and waved goodbye. "Pleasure doing business with you." He said. "See you later."

The bird with Detonator, Ares, and Sonic on it flew away.

As the bird was flying through the air, Detonator looked upon the ground below, and saw the wreckage from Ragdoll and Sparx's battle.

They seemed to have been blown away by some sort of blast of energy.

Detonator laughed. "Look at them." He said. "Ares my man, don't you think Ragdoll and Sparx are pathetic?"

Ares laughed. "I wouldn't talk if I were you." He said. "I heard that you lost to Ragdoll in a battle, and you were forced to join the Order of the Phoenix."

Sonic snickered.

Detonator glanced angrily at Sonic and Ares and said "Shut up!"

Ares smiled. "My point is…" he said. "They must be up against an opponent of great strength if they were able to do something like that to them."

Detonator scoffed.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling, and a large wall of pink crystals emerged from the ground in front of Detonator.

"What the…?" cried Detonator.

"Detonator!" cried Ares. "Behind you!"

Detonator turned around and saw a dragon made entirely out of crystals flying towards him.

Detonator reached into his pouch and formed some small birds in his hands. Then he tossed them. They grew to larger size, and they flew towards the dragon.

They exploded on the surface of the dragon. It left a burnt surface and smoke rose from it, but the crystal did not shatter.

"What is that thing?" cried Detonator.

Ares leaped off of the bird and struck the dragon with his ax.

There was a crack in the dragon's head, but it quickly sealed.

"Impossible!" cried Ares.

Suddenly, crystal spikes grew from the dragon's head.

Ares leaped off of the dragon and landed back on Detonator's bird.

"Curses…" said Ares. "I have no clue how to destroy it."

As Detonator got a closer look at the dragon, he saw that there was a figure standing on the dragon's back.

"It seems that person is controlling the dragon." Said Detonator. "We take her out, then the dragon should disperse."

"I'll handle it." Said Ares. "Create an opening for me so that I can get to him."

Detonator nodded. "Gotcha." He said.

Detonator reached into his pouch and pulled out some detonation clay. They turned into birds, grew to large size, and flew towards the person riding the dragon.

A wall of crystals rose upward from the dragon's back and shielded the person riding the dragon.

Detonator growled. "These crystals are really ticking me off." He said.

The dragon raised its wings and shot smaller crystals at Detonator's bird.

Detonator's clay rose from the pouches by itself. The clay molded itself into tiny birds and flew towards the shower of crystals that was attacking Detonator.

The birds exploded on contact with the crystals, and the hail of crystals ceased.

Sonic gripped onto the bird, panicked, hanging on for dear life.

When the smoke from the explosion cleared the dragon was gone.

"Where did…?" stammered Ares.

The dragon rammed into the underside of the bird, and knocked Sonic off of the bird.

As Sonic fell, the dragon flew beneath him and he landed on it's back.

Sonic stood up on the dragon and glanced at the figure.

"Your friends are alright." Said the figure.

The figure was a female, as Sonic was able to determine from her feminine voice.

"I was able to remove the bracelets of detonation clay."

"Thanks for the rescue." said Sonic.

"HEY!" cried Detonator. "If you don't get back here Sonic, then I'll detonate those bracelets!"

Sonic snickered and said "Sorry pals, this flight has better service. I'm sticking with the dragon."

Detonator chuckled. "Then your friends' life is forfeit." He said.

He clapped his hands, and heard an explosion near by.

Detonator laughed. "Your friends are nothing but ash now." He said.

"Are they?" asked Sonic.

A flash of lightning struck the bird Detonator and Ares were riding on.

It had come from Monkey Khan, who was flying towards them on his storm cloud.

Tails followed behind him.

The bird began to fall to the ground, with Detonator and Ares still on it.

Detonator and Ares grabbed hold of it as it fell, while the dragon Jewel was riding turned around and carried Sonic, Tails, and Monkey Khan away from the two.

"What happened?" cried Ares, as he and Detonator were plummeting through the sky.

"Lightning defuses my clay!" cried Detonator.

Detonator pulled some more clay out of his pouch in a hurry. It was the last of his clay.

He formed another bird in his hand, and dropped it. It grew to larger size and he and Ares landed on it.

Ares wiped sweat off of his forehead. "I thought you used those same explosives on him before?" he cried.

"Those were wired shuriken, to keep him from learning my secret!" said Detonator.

"Well, they got away. Leader won't be pleased." Said Ares.

"No he will not…" said Detonator. "And now, we've all been made official public enemy number one in the Dragon Kingdom. Well this day can't get any worse."

"So what do we do now?" asked Ares.

"Let's retrieve Ragdoll and Sparx and report what happened." Said Detonator.

"Aye." Said Ares.

The bird flew towards the ground to retrieve the unconscious Ragdoll and Sparx.

Jewel piloted the dragon back to where Amy and Sally were.

Amy was watching over Sally, who was resting with her busted leg.

Lying next to Sally were the unconscious bodies of Zant and Dante.

The dragon landed next to them, and Sonic, Tails, Monkey Khan, and Sonic's mysterious rescuer leaped off of the dragon.

Sonic glanced towards his rescuer, who was still cloaked.

"Thanks again for the rescue." Said Sonic. "Mind if I ask who you are?"

The figure removed the hood on the cloak.

She was a female light blue cat. She was very pretty, with purple eyes and hair and purple attire.

"My name is Jewel." She said. "I'm a member of the Order of the Celestites. I'm very happy that I was able to find you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic had a surprised look on his face. "Me?" he asked. "What's so special about me? Besides the obvious I mean."

"Please allow me to explain." Said Jewel in a small voice, almost like a whisper.

"First let's get Sally to a hospital." Said Sonic.

Jewel blushed slightly. "Yes. I'm sorry. Let's take care of all of the wounded before we do anything else."

Sonic gently carried Sonic to the crystal dragon Jewel had made and placed her on it, as well as Zant and Dante's bodies.

"Let's go." Said Sonic.

Jewel nodded and jumped on the dragon. Monkey Khan and Tails jumped on it as well.

The dragon took off for the medical clinic in the Dragon Kingdom.

Detonator's bird flew towards over a vast ocean.

Himself, as well as Ares, Ragdoll, and Sparx were riding the bird towards their base, which was a small island located in the middle of the ocean. The island was hidden in a cursed fog. The fog was

In the distance he could see some fog.

He commanded his bird to fly into the fog.

For a while, they saw nothing but grey clouds that made up the fog.

Eventually, the bird broke through the fog, and in the distance the bird's riders could see a small island in the vast distance.

"There's the island." Said Detonator. "Any last words?"

"Just shut up a guide the bird." Said Ragdoll.

Detonator nodded. "Got it." He said.

The bird continued to soar through the air towards the island.

The bird landed on the island.

The four leaped off the bird and walked towards a large metallic dome with the image of a black bird on the front.

There was an opened entrance into the dome that the four walked into.

They were in a dark room.

They couldn't see anything.

Ares glanced to his left and saw a pair of scary dark purple eyes staring at them.

"What news do you bring?" asked a voice that came from the direction of the pair of eyes.

"We weren't able to bring in the hedgehog." Said Detonator.

"We managed to locate two particularly powerful super powered Mobians." Said Ragdoll. "But one of them was too powerful, and they got away."

"What were their powers?" asked the voice.

"One could manipulate shadow energy." Said Sparx. "The other, I believe, is one of the legendary Nantals, whom I originally thought were extinct. But her powers had matched the Nantals' description."

"Sonic, as well as the super powered Mobians were rescued by a stranger who had the power to manipulate strange crystals…" said Ares.

The purple eyes lit up.

"Impossible…" said the voice. "It can't be…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Ragdoll. "What's so important about that person?"

The voice was silent for a moment.

Then it said "No matter what it takes, I want you to kill that person." 

The four looked surprised. "Kill her?" asked Detonator. "You don't want her powers for the pool?"

"I want you to kill her with no remorse or mercy." said the voice. "Her powers are not compatible with the pool, and the person will continue to get in our way until she has been taken care of. This is a command for the whole order. The person with the power of the crystals must be eliminated as soon as possible."

Ragdoll nodded. "Understood." He said.

"Now then." Said the voice. "As for your failure, Sonic the Hedgehog will be taken care of at a later date. Right now we have someone more important I want you to capture."

Behind the pair of eyes, the holographic image of Zant appeared before the four.

"His name is Zant the Hedgehog. Within him are powers that are very important for the pool. Capture him as soon as you can, and bring in other super powered Mobians as well."

The pair of eyes glanced at Detonator. "Detonator, I have a job for you." Said the voice.

"Hm?" asked Detonator, with a look of curiosity on his face.

"You're going to be paired up with Bullseye, Magnus and Spectre. Dr. Eggman's Eggman Empire has once again gone into production of robots for their robot armies. I want you to capture one of the doctor's new robot factories as a base for the Order of the Phoenix."

Detonator nodded. "I understand." He said.

"Everyone is dismissed." Said the voice.

The pair of eyes faded from view, as well as the image of Zant.

Ragdoll, Ares, and Sparx exited the base.

"Well, I guess I'll be on my way." Said Detonator. "You guys don't have too much fun without me around."

Detonator went back into the base, down a hallway, to a row of lockers.

He opened one of them and pulled out three more pouches of explosive clay.

He attached them to his belt and began to walk out of the base.

Sally lie inside on a bed in a holy medical clinic, alongside rows of other beds for patients that would come to see the healer if they were injured.

Towards her left was Dante, who was still unconscious.

The healer was a tall male horse Mobian, wearing a black robe. He had blue eyes, and a white beard.

The horse walked towards Sonic, Amy, Tails, Monkey Khan, Jewel, and Zant, who had regained consciousness, with a grim look on his face. "I'm sorry to say…" said the horse. "Her leg has been horribly injured. She will not be able to walk on it for several months. Maybe even a year."

"What about Dante?" asked Zant.

"She's fine. Her wound wasn't that bad. She should regain consciousness in a while." Said the healer.

Monkey Khan nodded. "Thank you healer." He said.

The healer smiled. "It was my pleasure, sire." Then he walked away.

Jewel had a sad look on her face. "I am very sorry about what has happened…" she said.

"It wasn't your fault." Said Sonic.

Monkey Khan turned towards her and said "It would be a big help if you told us what we were up against."

Jewel bowed her head, apologetically.

"As you all know, my name is Jewel. I am a part of the Order of the Celestites."

"Who are they?" asked Tails.

"We are a group of super powered Mobians, who have existed for centuries for one single purpose… to keep the Order of the Phoenix in line." Said Jewel.

"Allow me to tell you a story…

"Long, long ago the world of Mobius was ravaged by war. In the midst of that war, there was a group of super powered Mobian mercenaries who were secretly running the war. When the war had completely weakened both sides of the conflict, the mercenaries launched a coup, and together they took control of them, and for a time ruled the world.

However, a small group of powerful sorcerers banded together, and imprisoned the Order of the Phoenix's leader. Then, they killed the remaining members, and they performed a powerful spell, that removed all knowledge of the Order of the Phoenix from the face of the planet.

But now, centuries later, their leader has broken free from his prison and has been regaining his power. He has made a new Order of the Phoenix and has begun to capture random Mobians with Super Powers."

Jewel glanced at Monkey Khan. "They captured you in order to lure Sonic the Hedgehog here. Their goal was to capture him."

Monkey Khan nodded. "I see…" he said.

"So what should we do now?" asked Sonic.

"The Order of the Phoenix will not stop until you are captured, Sonic." Said Jewel. "My superiors have invited you to come with me under the protection of the Order of the Celestites."

"Protection?" asked Sonic.

Jewel nodded. "My master can also train you, to use your speed in ways you never thought were possible."

"T-train me?" stammered Sonic.

Jewel nodded.

"I have an idea!" said Tails. "We're on the hunt for new members for the Freedom Fighters! We could come with you, and help you recruit those super powered Mobians, not only for the Freedom Fighters, but for the Order of the Celestites as well!"

Jewel smiled. "That's a good idea!" she said.

"What about Dante and I?" asked Zant.

"Dante is a Nantal, who has probably already gone through extensive training of her own…" said Jewel.

"But as for you Zant… maybe you should train with my master as well."

Zant nodded. "Alright." He says.

"I'll stay here with Sally." Said Monkey Khan. "My healers will take care of her."

Sonic nodded. "Alright." He said. "But I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this whole 'training' thing…" said Sonic.

Jewel bowed her head with a desperate look on her face." She said "Please… in the battles to come you will need this training."

Sonic nodded. "Okay then." He said. "So Jewel, Tails, Amy, and this Dante person will go and hunt for new Super Powered Mobians, while Zant and I train with Jewel's master and learn to use our powers more effectively."

"I guess that's the plan." Said Monkey Khan.

"Alright!" said Sonic. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Amy rushed inside and screamed "Guys! Dr. Eggman has captured our home!"

Everyone in the room turned to face Amy as she rushed in.

"What?" cried Sonic.

Amy held up a small handheld radio, and turned it all the way up so that everyone could hear the report.

"—Repeat: Breaking News, The Eggman Empire is on the rise again. News has reached all local news stations about the recent capture of the city of New Megalopolis. No word has been heard of the status of the city, or its inhabitants but everyone is wondering the same thing: Where is Sonic the Hedgehog?"

'Not… again…' thought Tails.

Tails looked at Sonic, who had a grim look on his face.

"Sonic…?" said Tails. "What are we going to do?"

Sonic was silent for a solid minute. But with the amount of tension going around, it felt like Sonic was silent for hours.

"We go back." Said Sonic. "We take the city back."

Monkey Khan placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "I understand how you're feeling." He said. "But you can't just march in there without an army. You'll just get your head blown off."

"… I can't leave that place without my friends and family getting hurt…" said Sonic.

Sonic could feel the anger coursing through him. The rage, the frustration, the stress…. He was worried about the people back home.

"I can't just stay here and do nothing." He said.

"You can't take the city back without help." Said Monkey Khan. Monkey Khan held out his hand and shook Sonic's hand. "You've got the support of the Dragon Kingdom." Said Monkey Khan, who flashed Sonic a reassuring smile.

"But… you guys don't have an army…" said Sonic.

"We have friends out there." Said Tails. "We still have peaceful relations with G.U.N. We could ask for their support for taking back the city."

Sonic nodded. "So we have a new plan…" he said.

"We go to G.U.N. and ask for the help of their troops, first and foremost."

"Um… I don't mean to step in but…" stammered Jewel. "What about your training with my master?"

"My friends and family come first." Said Sonic.

"But…" said Jewel.

Zant placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped up. "Sonic…" he said.

Sonic glanced at Zant.

"I haven't been in this world for very long. But what I do understand is that according to Jewel's story, history has a way of repeating itself."

"What do you mean?" asked Sonic.

"Think about it…" said Zant. "According to her story, the Order of the Phoenix took advantage of a world ravaged in war and conquered it. By the sound of things, it sounds like a new war is coming, and what makes you think they won't try the same thing again? Plus, they're after you, and with your home captured, you've become emotionally compromised, and it will make it all the more easier for the Order of the Phoenix to come after you again, since they can take advantage of that."

"He's right, Sonic." Said Tails.

Sonic crossed his arms and said "Fine. Now what?"

"We'll go with our original plan." Said Tails. "Except, before we start recruiting more Freedom Fighters, we go establish an alliance with G.U.N. Then we move on from there."

"I will take you and Zant to my master to train." Said Jewel.

Sonic nodded. "Alright, let's hurry up and get this over with." He said.

Sonic glanced at Jewel and said "Let's leave right away."

Jewel nodded. "Yes, right away…" she said.

Detonator rode his bird over the ocean towards the coordinates that were given to him by Leader.

He told him that Magnus, Bullseye, and Spectre would meet him about 25 miles south of the factory's location.

Detonator looked towards the distance… he thought that he saw the image of a female cat…

As he flew, the image grew closer and closer and it turned out that the image he saw was actually Spectre the Cat!

"WOAH!" cried Detonator, as he brought his bird to a sudden stop. "What are you doing Spectre? I almost hit you!"

"It's not like you were going to hit me anyways." She said. "I'm in my intangible form."

Spectre looked like a ghost. She was transparent, and that combined with the face that she had white fur made her look almost invisible.

Detonator flashed her an angry irritated look. "Well fine. You've got my attention." Said Detonator. "What's the plan?"

"You'll enjoy this one." Said Spectre. "It's right up your alley. All we have to do is cause as much destruction as possible, and get the area under secure so Dr. Thompson can come in and turn the place into his personal techy playground."

Detonator smiled, and through his arms in the air. "A great opportunity for me to show off my art!" he cried. "I'm excited!"

"Magnus and Bullseye are waiting for us down below." Said Spectre. "Let's not keep them waiting. We have a job to do."

Meanwhile, miles away from Detonator's team, a yellow cat wearing an eye patch and lab coat was sitting in a wheel chair. He had no legs. He was typing massive amounts of coding into a large computer.

He was inside of a robotics lab. In the center of the room there was a table with the body of a young and fit mole. The mole was unmoving, and looked cold.

He laughed with anticipation. "Finally, the key to eternal life is in my grasp." He said.

There were wires attached to the head of the mole, which were connected to a large machine.

Dr. Thompson attached similar wires to his own head. He rolled his wheel chair towards a bright red lever, sticking out of the machine. "Today! No longer will I be forced to remain in this crippled body! I will have eternal youth in the body of a robot!"

Dr. Thompson laughed, as he pulled the lever. The lights throughout the building began to flash, and electricity began to crackle through the machine, as Dr. Thompson screamed. The he stopped, and his body fell silent.

About five minutes passed. Neither of the bodies moved.

Suddenly, the robot body's eyes opened. Then it sat up. It glanced down at itself and said "I'm alive…"

Then the mole burst into maniacal laughter. "I'M ALIVE!" he screamed. The mole leaped out of the bed onto the ground.

"Now, for a weapons check." Said the mole.

The Mole extended his hands and said "Flamethrowers!"

Two small tubes extended from the palms of his hands. Then, fire shot out of both of the tubes.

Then the tubes retracted back into his hands.

Then the mole said "Poisoned Laced Tail."

A cybernetic tail that resembled a scorpion's tail shot out from the mole's lower back, then retracted back inside.

"Electrical Current-laced tentacles."

Four long, massive tentacles shot out of his back. They electrical energy flashed from the tentacles. Then they retracted back into his back.

"Now…" said the mole. "Jet pack."

A back pack shaped object formed on his higher back. Fire shot from the underside of the back pack, and the mole flew into the air.

"Excellent." Said the mole. "Everything works."

The Mole landed, and the jet pack retracted.

"Now to get my supply of nanites."

The mole walked back towards the computer console and began to type some more coding.

A message popped up on the computer screen that said "Nanites have been deployed."

The mole smiled.

"I am now Thompson the Mechanist." Said the Mole. "And I am technology's worst nightmare."

To be continued.

Next time: Tails, Amy, and Dante meet with G.U.N. and agree to make a pact. Tails intercepts a message saying that the Eggman Empire plans to attack Mercia, and G.U.N. commander Abraham Tower sends Shadow the Hedgehog to lead a team of G.U.N. troops to aid in Mercia's defense. Can Shadow and Mercia's king Rob O' the Hedge defend Mercia from Dr. Eggman's attack?

While Shadow and Rob attempt to defend Mercia, Sonic and Zant meet Jewel's master Wendu, and endure their first grueling day of training. How will this turn out?

Meanwhile, Detonator, Spectre, and two other members of the Order of the Phoenix Bullseye and Magnus attack Dr. Eggman's robot factories. How will he respond to this attack?

Plus, we get a glimpse into the future as well as zones beyond the Prime Zone, where our story takes place! What does this mean?

Find out next issue!


	4. Scourge Breaks Out, Heroes of the Future

Note: The first paragraph was written as a cameo for Will and Maddy by Flashfire212. It was edited by me for content so that it would flow better with the story.

A blue echidna wearing a black denim jacket sat up on a ridge overlooking the ruins of a city that was now unrecognizable. He was watching a monitor that had figures on it, teenagers who are recognized as heroes. A black hedgehog appeared on the monitor, with a red and grey sweat shirt.

"Zant," said the blue figure. "If only you remembered what happened. If only I could help," he muttered. At that point, a light blue hedgehog wearing a pink top and a black skirt appeared.

"Honey, just sitting here moping won't help. I know you tried to protect him, and I know he lost his memories, but had you not, he could have died. You could have died,"

"I guess. Come on, lets head back home. Zant will just have to last on his own for now," he said, then looked back down towards Zant and his new friends.

"Godspeed, Zant. Remember, your friends will always have your back," A portal opened, and the two walked in holding hands.

They entered a large dome. Inside the building was a tall and white hedgehog waiting for them.

"You're late." said the tall, white hedgehog. He glanced towards the blue hedgehog.

"Sorry Silver." Said Will.

"From now on, we can't afford any foolishness from anyone. Our previous attempts to alter the future have failed, but I think I've found a way that will actually work."

"This future is not the way it was meant to be." Said Will. "We all know that."

"Our mission is to travel back in time and do what we can to prevent it. We don't have the tech to get us back, but we know someone who does..." said Silver.

"Who?" asked Will.

"Dr. Eggman Nega." Said Silver.

"I thought he was dead?" asked Maddy.

"Evidently not. I've received word from the Northwest branch of the resistance that he and my robot doppelganger Metal Silver, plan on going back and steal control of the Eggman Empire from the original Doctor, altering the course of the future. We need to make sure that doesn't happen, and make sure the future turns out how its supposed to be."

"I thought you tried that once already?" asked Will.

Silver angrily glanced at Will and said "Well, I failed. Just like you did."

Will growled at Silver and cried "You went back, TWICE! And you got your butt whooped both times and changed nothing!"

Maddy stepped in between the two and cried "Guys, this fighting will get us no where!"

Silver and Will looked away from each other.

"Point is, we're going back in time after Eggman Nega." Said Silver. "Be ready in two hours."

Silver walked off angrily.

Zonic the Zone Cop walked past some of the most deadly criminals the multiverse had ever seen.

His most recent addition was Scourge the Hedgehog. Scourge was one version of Sonic the Hedgehog from one of the millions of the parallel universes that made up the multiverse. He was the evil, or Anti-Mobian, version of Sonic. He had invaded Sonic's home world several times, and once tried to absorb the power of the Master Emerald from Sonic's world. Something went wrong, however, and Scourge's fur turned green, his eyes turned blue, and his teeth turned fang-like. He also received a scar on his chest from Locke, Knuckles the Echidna's father and guardian of the Master Emerald.

Shortly after Scourge's mutation, he and his girlfriend, Freedom-Fighter-turned-traitor Fiona Fox worked for a group of bounty hunters on Sonic's world known as the Destructix. Together, they worked for a mad-man named Dr. Finitivus, who transformed one of Sonic's friends, Knuckles, into an all-powerful yet mad demi-god known as Enerjak. When Finitivus' plan went south, however, Scourge and Fiona went back to Scourge's home dimension: the Anti-Mobius, and conquered the planet.

He and the Anti-Freedom Fighters, whom he renamed the Suppression Squad, took control of the entire planet and re-named it Moebius. Then Scourge got bored and decided to try and conquer Sonic's world. The Suppression Squad betrayed him, and Fiona abandoned him. Sonic trapped Scourge on his home world, where he got into a skirmish with Sonic's fellow Freedom Fighter, Amy, GUN agent Shadow the Hedgehog who had accidentally teleported to Moebius searching for the Special Zone, Silver the Hedgehog and Rob O' the Hedge, who were searching for Sonic, Metal Sonic, who teleported to Moebius looking to kill Sonic, and Rosy the Rascal, who had been waiting in Moebius' Castle Acorn for Scourge to return so she could kill him.

To fight them all, Scourge had to use Anarchy Beryl, the Moebius counterpart to the Chaos Emeralds, to transform into Super Scourge. Sonic managed to outsmart him however, and hauled Scourge off to the No Zone for imprisonment. Scourge was kept in the No Zone ever since.

Zonic looked inside Scourge's cell.

"How's our number one inmate doing?" he asked.

"Way better then how you're going to feel when I get out of here!" snarled Scourge.

Zonic wasn't worried. He snickered.

"Shut up and eat your dinner," said Zonic, slipping the tray of food through the slot in the door.

Scourge took it, still angry. Zonic walked away. While Scourge dipped his spoon into his mashed potatoes (which were, of course, lumpy) he heard something drop into his cell. It was a package. Scourge opened it. It was a small key. Next to the key was a note. Scourge unfolded the note and read it. It said 'If you can get past the Zone Cops to the Cosmic Highway, I will aid you in your escape from this prison.

Scourge unlocked the collar with the key and kicked the door to his cell open. An alarm rang through the No Zone's prison.

"Attention," said a voice over the speakers. "Prisoner Scourge the Hedgehog has escaped!" The voice over the speakers kept repeating the message as Scourge ran through the halls of the prison.

"I'm gonna make sure that I don't get caught in the clink here again. When I'm done here, I'll come back, and make sure I pay Zonic back in full."

Some Zone cops ran through the corridors and shot lasers at Scourge with their guns. Scourge spin dashed across the ground into the zone cops and knocked them off their feet.

He looked down at one of the officers. Then he leaned down and took his gun, as well as the Zone cop's communication device, and then ran off.

Mobius

The Dragon Kingdom

"What do you mean they left?" cried Sally, who had woken up from unconsciousness.

Sally was attacked, along with her friends Sonic, Tails, and Amy on their way to the Dragon Kingdom in Tails' plane; The Tornado by Detonator, a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Their plane crash landed, and Sally's leg had been greatly injured.

So after defeating Detonator as well as three other members of the Order of the Phoenix, Ares, Ragdoll, and Sparx, and meeting their new friends Zant, Dante, and Jewel, they took her to a healer, who told them that Sally's leg would not fully heal for a long time.

Jewel told them that she was a Member of the Order of the Celesties, who were created to fight the Order of the Phoenix, and that they were a group of Super Powered Mobian Terrorists who have been kidnapping other Mobians with super powers. Jewels also said that Sonic and Zant needed come to their secret headquarters with her so that they learn new ways they can use their powers to battle the Order of the Phoenix.

They also learned that their home, New Megalopolis, had been captured by Dr. Eggman and the Eggman Empire.

So Tails and Amy decided to go G.U.N. headquarters to meet with the G.U.N. commander Abraham Tower, and request their aid in helping them battle the Eggman Empire. They also brought Dante with them, and once they finished meeting with the G.U.N. commander, they would go recruit new members to the Freedom Fighters.

Sally was unconscious at the time, and they all agreed that she would be a burden, so they decided to leave her in the care of Monkey Khan.

"They all decided what to do, and they all left!" said Monkey Khan, who was standing by her bedside, obviously not enjoying being yelled at.

"MY HOME IS IN DANGER, AND THEY DECIDE TO LEAVE ME?" Sally screamed.

"Well, you can't go anywhere with that leg! It seemed like the only thing they could do!" said Monkey Khan.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEM? WHAT DO THEY THINK OF ME? AM I THAT USELESS?" cried Sally.

"Well… with that leg…" stammered Monkey Khan.

"So you're saying that I AM useless?" shot Sally.

"Stop yelling at me and think for a second!" said Monkey Khan. "Can you honestly think of a way that you would be a help to them with your injured leg?"

Sally thought to herself and said nothing.

Then she buried her face in her palms and started sobbing.

Monkey Khan sat next to her and put his arm on her shoulder. "Its not that bad." Said Monkey Khan, reassuringly. "Maybe this is a sign…"

Sally looked up at Monkey Khan, still sobbing. "A sign for what?" she asked.

"The fact that you ended up here, no place else you can go…" said Monkey Khan. "Maybe this means that you were destined to be the Queen of the Free People, alongside myself. You know my offer still stands."

"Oh Ken…" said Sally. "You know I can't accept that offer, at least not until I know that my home and the rest of the world is safe."

"Suit yourself." Said Monkey Khan, who stood up. "My offer still stands. It always will. Let me, or the healer know if you need anything."

Sally nodded, wiping the tears from her face.

Monkey Khan walked away.

G.U.N. Headquarters.

G.U.N. Commander Abraham Tower sat in his chair in his office, troubled, pondering.

The Eggman Empire has risen again. Sonic the Hedgehog was no where to be found. There have been a large number of recent kidnappings of super powered Mobians, and criminal and gang activity has begun to skyrocket. The world was plunging into chaos. Again.

So what could G.U.N. do to keep the peace?

He sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

A G.U.N. solider ran into his office. He saluted and said "Sir! Agent Smallwood Reporting!"

Commander Tower leaned forward and said "At ease solider. What have you got for me?"

"The Kingdom of Mercia had sent out a distress signal, and our satellites had picked it up. We don't know if this means that Mercia is in trouble or not because the signal was cut off immediately. What are your orders?"

Commander Tower placed his hands together and closed his eyes to think.

Mercia may be under attack and someone is jamming their communications, or it could be a signal malfunction.

Ordinarily, he would ignore the situation, but at a time like this…

It would probably be wise to send a scout to investigate the situation before he got troops involved.

Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat would be perfect for this mission.

"Call Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat. I'll send them to scout Mercia, and assess the situation. If they find nothing, then we'll just assume it was a signal malfunction. If Mercia is under attack, we'll send an army to reinforce them." Said Commander Tower.

"Yes sir!" said the solider, who ran off to give Shadow and Rouge their orders.

"Run it by me again." Said Magnus the Eagle, who was following fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix through a rocky valley. "What exactly is our mission?"

"Didn't we already explain it to ya twice, m'boy?" said Bullseye the Porcupine. He was directly in front of Magnus, treading through the rough rocky surfaces they were walking on. "We go in, secure the area, and wait for Dr. Thompson."

"And?" asked Magnus. "What's after that?"

"Thompson does what he's been ordered to do by Leader." Said Spectre, who was floating above them.

"Which is?" asked Magnus.

"AYE! Ye'er given me a headache boyo!" said Bullseye. "Enough questions!"

"I want to know all of the aspects of the mission so that I know that I am not wasting my time and energy being a part of this organization, whose goals no one has bothered to tell me yet!" cried Magnus angrily. "Because so far, I've been sent to different places, wrecking them for no good reason and then disappearing, or I've been capturing weak Mobians with powers like mine. So I'd like to know exactly what the heck it is that I am doing, and what I am working to accomplish!"

"I find this organization as a pleasant way to show off my art." Said Detonator, who was walking ahead of everyone.

"Good for you." Said Magnus. "But I…"

"Magnus, if ye say one more word, I will slit your throat." Threatened Bullseye.

Magnus glared angrily at Bullseye. "Your metal weapons won't work on…"

A pebble flew past Magnus's head and struck a rock wall behind him. Magnus heard a small ''smoosh'' noise. He turned around and saw that the pebble had killed a large fly, about the size of Magnus' thumb.

"I don't need metal weapons to kill you, Magnus." Said Bullseye. "All objects are my weapons."

Magnus said nothing as they continued to walk up the trail.

Eventually, the group made it towards the front of a large factory.

Outside the factory were two of Dr. Eggman's robot guards. One had a rapid fire machine gun for a hand. The other had a grenade launcher for a hand.

One of the robots saw them, and fired its machine gun at them.

"You go ahead and handle this one, Magnus." Said Spectre calmly.

"Go it." Said Magnus, who sighed.

Everyone else stayed behind, while Magnus continued to walk towards the entrance towards the base.

Suddenly, the bullets that were being fired at them stopped in mid air.

Magnus extended his arm and the bullets went flying back at the guards.

The bullets pierced their armor and destroyed the robots' internal systems.

Magnus waved his hand and the robots fell apart, and their parts flew away like leaves in the wind.

The others came up behind them.

"Be a dear, and get the door too." Said Spectre.

Magnus waved his hand again, and the massive iron doors blocking the entrance to the factory severed from their hinges.

Then Magnus put his hand down, and the doors fell to the ground with a loud bang.

"Stop right where you are." Said a robotic voice that came from inside of the factory.

Out from the entrance of the factory walked six robot drones. They were about four foot each. One of them carried a staff, and at the end of it was something that resembled a magnet.

The one with the staff pointed it at Magnus.

"What is this?" asked Magnus. He waved his hand.

As he waved his hand, the magnet on the end of the staff that the one robot was carrying glowed blue.

After that nothing happened.

"What is going on?" asked Magnus. "My powers won't work!"

"I am M.O.S.E.S., the **M**ultiple **O**peration **S**tatistic **E**ngineering **S**trategy processor." Said a robotic voice that came from all four of the robots. "I am the artificial intelligence that runs this factory. If you do not turn back, then you will be destroyed. I am capable of analyzing your powers and crafting ways to counter them, as I have done with your ally here."

Magnus glanced at the staff with wide eyes.

"T-that staff…" he stammered.

"It produces magnetic waves that counter any magnetic waves that you generate. Leaving you helpless." Said the robotic voice. "I only need to analyze your powers one time. Then I can send a signal inside of the factory that will create a device which will counter your powers."

"I-impossible!" stammered Magnus.

Spectre's expression didn't change, however Detonator and Bullseye were dumbstruck.

"You will be given one chance to return to where you came from. Turn back now, or we will kill you." Said the voice.

Bullseye turned to Spectre and asked "What do we do?"

Spectre smiled and said "Nothing. He's here."

The roaring sounds of a jet engine could be heard above them, and every one looked up.

They saw a small jet above them.

Someone jumped out of the jet and landed in front of everyone with a large crash. The person was cloaked in black, but his face was showing. It was a red-haired mole.

"Wh-who is this?" asked Detonator.

"You may call me…" said the mole. "The Mechanist."

The mole lifted his hands and two tubes extended from the palms of his hands.

Two spherical shaped object shot from them, and emitted a strange purple colored mist.

Once the mist cleared, the robots stopped moving.

"W-what is going on?" asked the robotic voice.

"The gas I emitted was a fog that hid my nanites inside of them. My nanites will take control of all of the cybernetics inside of this factory. All of its computer systems will eventually come under my control.

The Mole smiled and said "Your factory now belongs to the Order of the Phoenix.

The robots fell to the ground, lifeless.

The Mole turned towards the ones behind him and said "Come. Would you like to tour our new factory?"

Spectre grinned and said "Right away."

The four followed him inside of the factory.

Sonic the Hedgehog gripped the purple crystal dragon that was flying through the air to keep from falling off.

He had a heavy heart, since he didn't want to leave his friends behind.

He knew that this training would be important for the fight to come, but it would be hard for him to focus with his mind on his home, which had been taken over by the Eggman Empire.

He looked below to see the vast ocean they were flying over. Then he looked towards the distance and saw nothing but ocean.

"Are we almost there?" he asked.

Zant, who was riding the crystal dragon as well turned back and asked "Are you ever going to stop asking that?"

Sonic frowned.

Jewel turned to Zant, smiled and said "He's just worried about his home is all."

"Well, his impatience is really ticking me off." Commented Zant.

"Well, we're here now, so there's no need to worry." Said Jewel.

"We are?" asked Sonic, who looked at the ocean again.

All he saw was water.

"The island has a camouflage spell place on it. It is a defense measure, to protect us from our enemies." Said Jewel.

"Clever." Said Zant.

"Well, let's go already!" said Sonic. "I'm tired of waiting!"

"Alright." Said Jewel.

She piloted the dragon towards the ocean below.

As the got closer and closer they began to see a wavy outline of an island.

The dragon landed on solid ground, but the ground couldn't be seen. It was invisible.

Sonic, Zant, and Jewel got off the dragon. It dispersed into tiny crystals after they got off.

"So when exactly does this spell wear off?" asked Sonic. "Cause its kinda weird walking on ground that's not there."

Suddenly the island faded into view, and Sonic could actually see the ground he was standing on.

They stood in front of a large white dome. Standing at the dome's entrance was a grey cat wearing a black jacket, gray jeans and gray shoes.

"You're late Jewel." Said the Cat.

"My apologies." Said Jewel, who bowed in front of the gray cat.

"Well then, let's get started with your training." Said the Cat. "You may call me Spiral. For the next few days, I will be training you in properly using your powers."

"Tch." Said Sonic who smirked. "We'll probably be done with my training by dinner time. Don't know about this slow poke though." Sonic pointed at Zant, who glared at him angrily and cried "Hey!"

Spiral glared angrily at them. He extended his hands, and Sonic and Zant both began flying towards him.

Their throats landed in Spiral's palms.

"Listen to me." He said. "The next few days will feel like years. Decades even. You will go through some of the greatest pain this world has to offer, but the end results will be worth it. I do not tolerate those who play around. Your lives depend on this training, so you must take it seriously, or you will die."

He let them go, and they dropped to the ground.

They were gasping for breaths. Both Sonic and Zant were terrified by the strictness of this person.

"W-we're sorry…" said Sonic.

"Before we begin sir…" said Zant. "We've only just gotten here, and we're tired and hungry… do you think we can rest a bit?"

Spiral glared angrily at them. "DEATH WAITS FOR NO ONE!" he cried.

All of a sudden, two more Spirals appeared in a flash of smoke.

They both charged at Sonic and Zant.

"DEFEND YOURSELF!" cried both of the Spirals.

Sonic ran at both of the Spirals at full speed. He spin dashed into them, but one sidestepped.

The other blocked the blow, while the first one grabbed Sonic's feet and slammed him on the ground.

Zant teleported behind the two Spirals and stabbed them both in the back, but the Spirals disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Death comes from all directions." Said Spirals voice in a loud echo.

Suddenly, pedals of grass began to fly in the wind, until the formed into the shape of two people.

Both of the grass pedal people began to fade into the image of Spiral.

They both held knives up to Sonic and Zant's throat.

"During my training." Said the one who had a knife held up to Zant. "You will learn what to do when you face death. You will learn power through fear. You will learn new limits to your powers, and in the end you will become even stronger then ever."

Suddenly, the Spirals disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"This has been your first lesson." Said the voice of Spiral from behind the two.

Sonic and Zant turned to face him.

"Your next lesson begins inside of the dome in one hour. Be ready."

Spiral walked into the dome.

Sonic and Zant both glared at him angrily.

"Not exactly a ray of sunshine is he?" asked Sonic.

Zant shook his head. Then he turned to Jewel and asked "Just what have we gotten ourselves into?" he asked.

Jewel sadly bowed her head. "I apologize for his strictness." She said. "But he is right. This training is required for the sake of your lives, as well as the fate of the world."

Sonic wiped some dirt off of his shoulder and said "Tell me something I don't know."

"Let's get rested and ready for his next lesson." Said Zant, who walked towards the dome entrance.

Sonic followed.

Back at G.U.N. headquarters, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat were shown into the conference room by two G.U.N. troops.

"Wait!" cried a voice from behind them.

All three looked back to see a small brown hedgehog wearing a black jacket, gray jeans and black and white tennis shoes being pushed by a taller, blue hedgehog wearing camouflage towards them.

"Take rookie here with ya!" said the blue hedgehog.

"Commander didn't say he needed him." Said the first G.U.N. agent.

"Well, I'm here to make Commander reconsider." Said the blue hedgehog. "Rookie here is ready for his first major mission!"

"I've already been on my first major mission you idiot geezer…" said the brown hedgehog quietly.

"You call infiltrating Casinopolis' criminal empire a major mission?" cried the blue hedgehog. "And how exactly am I a geezer? I'm 22!"

The blue hedgehog pushed the brown hedgehog towards them.

"Take him with you." Said Kane.

"Fine." Said the first G.U.N. agent.

The brown hedgehog went with Shadow, Rouge, and the two G.U.N. troops.

The three entered the conference room, where G.U.N. commander Abraham Tower was waiting to give them their briefing.

"Why is Ricco here?" asked the commander. "I didn't call for him."

"Sorry sir." Said Rouge. "Kane insisted. And you know how he is."

"Ah." Said the Commander. "I understand. Well I guess there's no harm in letting him join."

The Commander cleared his throat.

"Anyways." He said. "Your mission is a little reconnaissance to the Kingdom of Mercia. We've recently received a distress signal from there, but it was cut off almost immediately. With the spike in Eggman Empire activity lately, I'm not taking any chances."

"So all you want us to do is check on the status of Mercia?" asked Shadow.

"Seems like Ricco can do that on his own." Said Rouge.

Ricco gave them booth an irritated look.

"In case Mercia has been attacked, you guys are to lead a team of G.U.N. soldiers to reinforce Mercia. They will be traveling with you in a transport ship. We will continue to send you more aid accordingly if the kingdom has been attacked."

Shadow nodded. "Understood." He said. "Let's hurry up and get this over with."

Shadow, Rouge, and Ricco all exited the conference room and headed to the hangar.

Scourge spin dashed out the window of the prison.

He landed on his feet, unscarred from the glass.

"It's a straight shot out of here once I get off the prison grounds." Scourge said to himself. "Then I'll head down to Moebius and give those jerks a piece of my mind."

Scourge made a break for the exit of the prison.

Suddenly, Scourge ran into a blue force field, and fell onto his back.

"You're not going anywhere." Said Zonic's voice.

Zonic walked up behind Scourge and picked him up by his neck.

"Be a good boy and get back to your cell now Scourge." He said.

"Urg… you wish!" said Scourge, who struggled to get break free of Zonic's grip.

Scourge bashed Zonic in the face with his heel, forcing Zonic to loose his grip on him.

Scourge landed on the ground. He swiped his right foot into Zonic's feet, tripping him.

But Zonic did a backwards somersault back onto his feet.

Scourge punched him, but he blocked the attack, grabbed his arm, and flipped Scourge onto his back.

Zonic tried putting a control collar on his neck while he was down, but Scourge rolled out of the way, and back onto his feet before he could do anything.

Scourge turned around and ran up the side of a wall, then used the momentum to bounce off the wall, and spin dash in Zonic's direction.

Another blue force field blocked Scourge's attack.

Scourge landed on his feet, and the force field dissipated.

"Its useless Scourge!" cried Zonic. "You can't escape us!"

"I won't waste my life trapped in here! I'll whoop all of you if It means I get out of here!" cried Scourge.

Scourge pulled out the gun he stole from the Zone cop from earlier and shot Zonic with it.

The lasers from the gun burned through Zonic's armor, and wounded Zonic.

'Dang!' he thought to himself. 'I let my guard down…'

Zonic began to bleed from his wounds.

Scourge started to laugh as he walked up to Zonic, grabbed him by the neck, and pointed the gun to his head.

"You've been getting in my way for a long time, Zonic." Scourge said, with a hint of malice in his voice. "If I take care of you now, you'll never get in my way again."

Zonic's heart skipped a few beats.

Scourge still had the gun pointed to his head.

From the amount of tension in the air, it felt like Scourge was really going to kill him.

"You…" stammered Scourge. "Are finished."

Suddenly the gun rose from Scourge's hand by itself.

Scourge watched the gun fly into the air. "W-what's going on?" he stammered.

"Now, now…" said a voice from behind him. "There'll be none of that. No unnecessary blood shed is needed Scourge."

Scourge looked behind him to see a large mammoth wearing an expensive business suit.

"My name is Mammoth Mogul." Said the Mammoth. "I have come to recruit you, which is why I freed you from this prison."

Scourge glared at the Mammoth angrily.

"If you were going so far as to free me, why did you make me fight my way through all of the prison's guards?" he asked.

"A test." Said Mogul. "I wanted to know the measure of your abilities."

"What?" cried Scourge angrily.

"Calm down. From here on out I will escort you out of this zone."

Scourge gave Mogul a surprised look.

"A-are you serious?" he asked.

Scourge let Zonic drop to the ground.

"Yes I am." Said Mogul. "Come. Let's go."

A green portal opened up next to Mogul and he and Scourge walked inside of it and disappeared.


	5. Mercia Under Siege, The Training Begins

**200 Years in the Future**

Linkin the Hedgehog sheathed his sword, and looked at all the damage he had caused.

Night Stalkers lie all over. As the lay, they began to fade away, as is what happens to them when they are defeated by light energy.

Linkin grinned.

"Pathetic." He said. "The Night Stalkers aren't even worth wasting time on. They're not even good exercise anymore."

"What is this?" said a voice behind him. "''The'' Linkin the Hedgehog is actually smiling? I never thought I'd see the day."

Linkin turned around to see Dr. Eggman Nega standing behind him.

"I'm excited." He said. "We finally have a chance of changing this horrible future we've been cursed to live in."

"Indeed." Said Eggman Nega, with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Our work will finally allow us to change the world for the better."

Eggman Nega began to walk back inside of the base. Then he turned to Linkin and said "The Portal has been completed. We are ready to go whenever you are."

Linkin nodded. "I will join you shortly." He said.

Eggman Nega returned inside of his base.

Linkin faced the desolate wasteland before him.

200 years ago, an explosion occurred that had devastated much of the world. Countries, entire continents were obliterated in the explosion.

It marked the beginning of the war between the Night Stalkers, and the Infiltrators.

The Night Stalkers were nightmarish creatures that were created by large amounts of shadow energy. They serve their dark lord, Demon Zant. They have super strength, and wings that allow them to fly, as well as long pointy, devilish tails. They also have claws and fangs, which can cut and bite through almost any substance.

The Infiltrators were a race of dangerous androids that exist to wipe out Mobians, so that machines are the dominant species on the planet. They are twice the size of an average Mobian, and they were built to be very bulky, and very dangerous. They carried large firearms, and they are all programmed with super efficient targeting systems that make missing their targets impossible.

Two dangerous forces of destruction warring against each other further ruined the already apocalyptic land. Any Mobians caught in the cross fire were killed.

Which is why a small band of Mobians united together to form a resistance to both sides of the war. But the resistance wasn't enough, and eventually they were destroyed too. Only a small amount of the resistance is still around. Silver the Hedgehog, Will the Echidna, and Maddy the Hedgehog are a part of this resistance.

They fight strongly for the people that live in fear of the warring monsters.

Which is what brought Silver, Maddy, and Will here, in an attempt to go back in time to change the future they live in.

They could see the abandoned Egg Dome a mile away.

The Egg Dome was the headquarters for Dr. Eggman for a long period of time. When Knuckles the Echidna was transformed into the mad demi-god Enerjak by the evil Dr. Finitivus, he was captured for a short time by Dr. Eggman's forces. However he escaped, and when Dr. Eggman shot missiles at him in retaliation, he managed to obliterate most if not all of Dr. Eggman's robot forces and most of Robotropolis by turning Dr. Eggman's missiles onto his own city. The Egg Dome was the only thing that survived the blast, and it was used as the main headquarters for Dr. Eggman until his city was rebuilt.

After all these years, Eggman Nega decided to take it and use it as his own base.

"There's the Egg Dome." said Silver. "We need to raid it now!"

"So what's the plan Silver?" asked Will.

"We wait." Said Silver. "Until we learn what we can about what the enemy's status is. Then we raid the place, and see what we can find out about their rumored method of transportation through time."

Back inside of the Egg Dome, Linkin, Aldez, and Keish followed Eggman Nega down a corridor into a large room with machines and computers everywhere. In the center of the room was a large, circular machine.

"Behold, my friends." Said Eggman Nega. "This is the device that we will use to change the future."

Linkin crossed his arms. "And you're certain that this device will work?" he asked.

"Positive." Said Eggman Nega. "How could you ever doubt me?"

Linkin scratched his chin and stared at the machine.

"The time has come to reverse this horrible fate that has been brought upon us." Said Eggman Nega. "I'll initiate the device. First we will go back in time, and across zones to recruit some allies of mine."

"And then?" asked Linkin.

"Then, we raid Mobius, and do whatever we can to kill Zant the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog."

Linkin nodded. "Start the machine."

"Anxious are we?" asked Eggman Nega. "Fine then."

Eggman Nega pulled a lever, and the portal began to flash. A blue vortex of swirling energy formed inside of the machine.

A bright light began to flash throughout the Egg Dome…

Will stood up and pointed. "Look!" he cried. There was a bright light coming from the bunker.

The three ran down the hill to investigate.

Maddy jumped inside through a window, followed by the others. They stood before Eggman Nega and three other individuals they couldn't recognize that were standing before a blue portal.

"Stop!" cried Silver! Silver extended his hand and a psychonesis wave flowed out of it.

The wave knocked the four into a nearby wall.

When Silver, Will and Maddy got a better view of the four, they gasped.

They were a green hedgehog, a pink fox, and a grey raccoon. The green hedgehog was wearing a yellow jacket, camouflage pants, and had long blond hair and blue eyes. The pink fox wearing a purple top, black gloves and skirt, long pink boots. She had long blond hair that touched her shoulders, and she had yellow eyes. The grey raccoon was wearing a black shirt, black jacket, black gloves and black pants. He also had red eyes, and black hair.

"You three?" cried Silver.

Will stammered. "Linkin...Aldez...Keish... we thought you guys were dead!"

Linkin, Aldez, and Keish stood up.

"We thought we were too," said Linkin. "But, Eggman Nega saved us, and we're going to make sure that this future never happens."

"What does that mean?" asked Silver.

"You should know!" said Aldez.

"We're going back in time... to kill Zant the Hedgehog, before this cursed future ever happens." finished Keish.

Silver frowned. "You know, we can't let that happen. We haven't even been able to determine whether or not Zant is the cause for this horrible future, and altering the future that much may leave us stranded in an even worse future then the one we're already in."

Will fists began to smoke. They caught on fire. He smiled. "I know where this is going!" he said.

"You fools!" cried Eggman Nega. Everyone glanced at him and the portal. "You've damaged the portal! We need to enter it now before it malfunctions!"

Eggman Nega ran through the portal.

Metal Silver, Linkin, Aldez, and Keish followed through.

"No!" cried Silver. Silver jumped through, followed by Will, Maddy, and Cosmic. The portal exploded. There was a bright flash and then... everyone felt nothing.

A G.U.N. helicopter flew through the skies above Mobius. Its destination was the Kingdom of Mercia.

Its passengers were Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and Ricco the Hedgehog.

They were assigned by the G.U.N. Commander Abraham Tower to infiltrate the Kingdom, and investigate its status.

G.U.N. had received a distress signal from Mercia a short while ago, however it was cut off almost immediately. So, Commander Tower sent that team in to investigate the status of the nation. If it was attacked, then they were to report it, and G.U.N. soldiers would be sent to aid the nation's defense.

As they neared the Kingdom, something large and fast zoomed by the helicopter.

The ship startled everyone onboard the copter.

Ricco looked out the window in and saw an airship no larger then the helicopter fly past it.

"What is it?" asked Shadow.

"Its an enemy ship." Said Ricco. "And its hostile."

"Strap into your seats lady and gentlemen." Said the pilot of the ship. "I'm going to try and pull off some evasive tactics.

The helicopter began to dive towards the ground, but the airship followed it and fired a large ball of energy at it.

"Look out!" cried Rouge.

But it was too late. The energy ball had struck the helicopter, and the copter exploded.

Ricco regained consciousness.

He got up and looked around. He was lying on a brick path, in an alleyway. To his left and right were Shadow and Rouge on the ground, unconscious.

"Well this is just perfect." He said. "I have no idea where I am, and I have two unconscious bodies lying next to me."

He got up and took a full look of his surroundings. He was in some sort of mid-evil city.

"Shadow must have used Chaos Control to teleport us into Mercia." Said Ricco. "Could have teleported us back to base, out of enemy territory, but that would've been too easy. Isn't that right Shadow?"

Shadow said nothing, as he lied on the ground, still unconscious.

Suddenly, Ricco heard footsteps from behind him.

"Now what?" he asked out loud.

A robot walked down the alley towards Ricco. It was one of Eggman's new robot foot soldiers that stand as tall as a Mobian, and were incredibly deadly.

It was carrying a staff that was glowing purple at both ends. The robot twirled the staff in its hand, and began to charge at Ricco.

"Seriously?" he asked out loud. "Don't you have something better to do then get your shiny metal hide whooped?"

The robot stopped suddenly, and jabbed at Ricco with his staff.

Ricco drew a sword and blocked the staff with it. Then he reached towards his back a grabbed another sword and sliced the staff in half.

Then Ricco charged at the robot, using one sword to slice its arm, then its leg, and finally stabbing its chest with the other sword.

Ricco pulled the sword out of the robot's chest, sheathed them both and walked back towards Shadow and Rouge.

"Well, now we know that Mercia has been taken." Said Ricco, who plopped Shadow and Rouge's bodies on his shoulders. "Now I have to get us out of here so that we can get in contact with G.U.N. Easy stuff."

Ricco began to run off with Shadow and Rouge's bodies still on his shoulders.

Unknown to him, the robot he had sliced was still activated, and had recorded the entire fight.

"Distributing playback to main server." Said a preprogrammed robotic voice.

The robot uploaded the video of Ricco's fight to Eggnet, the computer network developed by Dr. Eggman himself that is used by the entire Empire.

Miles away from Mercia, the headquarters for M.O.S.E.S., the Artificial Intelligence who runs Egg Net, received the video uploaded from the robot in Mercia.

"Excellent work, sentry number 478,003." Said M.O.S.E.S. "Your task has been fulfilled."

The robot in Mercia shut itself off.

M.O.S.E.S. distributed the video to all of the robots that were connected to Egg Net.

"Rest assured Dr. Eggman." Said M.O.S.E.S. "One sentry has failed. It will not happen again."

Sonic and Zant followed Spiral down the hallway inside of the Order of the Celestites' dome.

"I will give you all one hint for your training." Said Spiral. "In order to accomplish your full potential, you must feel greater fear then you ever have in your life. You will have to feel complete hopelessness and doubt if you want to achieve your full potential."

Spiral turned to Zant. "Zant. You will have to trust in your inner self if you want to achieve your potential."

Sonic and Zant both had confused looks on their faces.

"What in the world does that mean?" asked Sonic.

Spiral stopped in front of two doors.

"I'm afraid that is all I may tell you." He said. "Each of you enters one room. You will not come out until your opponent is defeated."

Sonic entered the door on the left. Zant entered the one on the right.

When they entered them, they closed immediately behind them.

Ricco ran through the streets of Mercia carrying Rouge and Shadow on his shoulders.

"This is perfect." He said sarcastically as he ran. "And exhausting."

"Psst!" said a voice in an alley to his left.

Ricco glanced to his left and saw someone clothed in black gesturing for him to come towards the person.

Ricco began to walk over, when the floor beneath his feet opened up and Ricco fell through a trap door.

Ricco landed on a soft white mattress with a loud thud.

Shadow and Rouge's bodies landed on Ricco, which knocked the wind out of him.

A Female Mobian Lynx helped take the unconscious bodies off of Ricco, who was gasping for air.

"Are you okay, sir?" asked the Mobian lynx. She sounded very young, about 8 or 9 years old.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" gasped Ricco.

"I apologize for the rough entry." She said.

"Oh that's alright… you just… crushed my diaphragm is all…" gasped Ricco sarcastically. Ricco started to cough.

'Dang, this is worse then when I used to have asthma…' he thought.

"Do you need anything?" asked the Lynx.

"AIR, YOU IDIOT!" cried Ricco.

"Mary, get back." Said a female echidna that walked out from behind her.

She put a hand on the lynx's chest, and gently pushed her back a little bit.

"Who are you?" asked Ricco.

The echidna stepped into the light.

She was wearing brown robes, and carried a long staff.

As she stepped more into the light, Ricco could see that she was missing an arm.

"My name is Mari-An." Said the echidna. "I am the Queen of Mercia."

Ricco recognized her.

"I know you." He said. "You're married to the King of Mercia, Rob O' the Hedge. You two had a son, Prince Jon…"

"My son, Jon, is missing, and my husband, King Rob O' the Hedge has been…. Robotized." Interrupted Mari-An.

Ricco stood up, and looked at her with a face of sympathy. "What happened here?" he asked.

"It happened three weeks ago." She said, the memory obviously painful.

"We were attacked by the Eggman Empire's forces. It happened so fast… and our attackers…

It was like they knew our every move before we made it. They captured Mercia in only a day. Only a few of us managed to escape. The rest were taken prisoner to be massed Robotized. My husband was chosen to be the first robotized, to be an example for the fate that awaits the rest of Mercia's citizens.

The rest of us that escaped formed a small resistance. But it's getting smaller and smaller each day. More and more of us are being captured, and soon there won't be a resistance left."

"Well, I'm here with agents from G.U.N. If you can tell me the way out of here, I'll go to G.U.N. and request assistance from them. They'll send an army down to help you fight them off." Said Ricco.

"There is no way out of here." Said Mari-An. "The robots cut off all exits from this place."

"There's absolutely no way that we can get out of here?" asked Ricco.

Mari-An shook her head.

"Is there some way that I can contact G.U.N.?" asked Ricco.

"There used to be a communications tower…" said Mari-An. "But it was destroyed. It is what we had used to contact G.U.N. before."

Mari-An looked away sadly.

"We lost a lot of men that day." She said.

Ricco scratched his chin. "I see…" he said. "Well, the Eggman Empire has to have some way of keeping in communication…"

"You may be able to relay a signal through one of the robots that patrol the city streets." Said Mari-An.

"All I have to do is capture it?" asked Ricco.

Mari-An nodded.

"Alright then." Said Ricco, who got up.

"If you show me the way out of here, I will go ahead and do that." He said.

Ricco felt a blade across his throat.

"Don't be so hasty." Said Mari-An. "Remember this. If you betray us, you will not live to see another day. I will send two of my best agents to escort you. If you attempt to betray us they will kill you on sight. And, we will also kill your comrades."

Mari-An and Ricco glanced to the still unconscious Rouge and Shadow.

Ricco turned back to her and said "I will not betray you. I swear my life on it."

There were two Mobian men who escorted Ricco to the top surface, and then followed him as they ran across the rooftops of Mercia.

One of them was a tiger, who was dressed in a long dark coat, and pants. He wore a red tie, and a black mask across his face, complimented by a black hat with a red feather poked into the side. He carried a long saber.

He said his name was Zolo, but he said not much else.

The other was a taller, bulkier chameleon. He was dressed in armor, and he carried a long brawn sword and a round shield.

He said his name was Percy.

As the three scaled the rooftops, they discussed their plans for capturing one of the robots.

"We could lure them towards the lake." Said Percy. "There I could use my powers over water to short circuit them."

"I have a feeling they will be expecting that." Said Zolo.

"Powers over water?" asked Ricco.

"Percy has power over manipulation of water." Said Zolo.

Percy nodded.

"I have a limited manipulation of water. I can also breathe underwater, and my strength increases nearly tenfold while I am in the water." He said.

"You have used that strategy before." Said Zolo. "If I have learned anything these past few weeks, its that these monsters do not fall for the same trick twice."

Ricco glanced at Zolo and asked "Do you have powers too?"

Zolo shook his head. "None whatsoever, mi amigo." He said. "I have been declared Mercia's greatest swordsman by King Rob himself."

Ricco smiled and said "I'm a bit of a swordsman myself."

Ricco gestured to the dual swords holstered on his back.

Zolo smiled at the sight of a fellow swordsman.

"Oh!" he said. "I really must test your skills in combat one day, mi espadachín chiquito."

Ricco gave Zolo a confused look. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means 'Little Swordsman.'" Said Zolo.

Ricco smiled at the compliment. "Awesome name." he said.

"Back to our current situation." Said Percy. "What about a plan for capturing one of the enemy?"

"It would probably be best to lure one of the robots away from a squad and capture it when it has been separated." Said Zolo.

"But overpowering it will be difficult." Said Percy. "Which is why it would probably be best to lure it near the lake."

"But they will probably be expecting that." Said Zolo. "There are probably several squads along the lake, and any other major bodies of water in this area, ready to capture us."

"So what should we do?" asked Ricco.

"I have a feeling that they will expect us to try and separate one of them from the squad." Said Zolo. "So we should probably find the smallest squad of robots we can find, and smash them all but one. That seems to be our only option."

Ricco nodded. "Well then, let's do it." He said.

The other two nodded as they traveled across the rooftops with him.

Sonic was amazed as he stood in the room he was told to wait in.

Actually, it was more like a coliseum then a room. There was a winding pathway that went all the up towards the ceiling, which was several hundred feet higher then where Sonic was standing.

However most of Sonic's attention was focused on the giant statue that the winding path was circling around.

"I wonder what exactly I'm supposed to do…" he said, still viewing the statue with awe.

Suddenly, the statue's eyes flashed green. Then its head turned and looked down at Sonic. Its giant stone hand reached for Sonic.

Sonic's eyes widened as the stone hand reached for him. Sonic began to run as fast as he could up the winding path.

The statue watched Sonic ascend up the winding path and attempted to stop him. It moved its other hand to stop Sonic.

Sonic saw the other hand trying to stop him, so he breaked, and made a dash in the other direction, but the other hand blocked that way as well.

The hands slammed together, but Sonic back flipped over the hands before the hands crushed him.

Sonic landed on the statue's right hand. He dashed along the statue's arm and spin dashed into the statue's face.

No effect. Its armor was too strong, nearly impenetrable.

"Well, that was a waste." Said Sonic, who landed back onto the path.

"Its armor is indestructible, it's big enough to swat me like a fly… what do I do?" he asked himself as he ran back up the pathway.

When Zant entered his room, all he saw was a mirror.

When he looked into the mirror, all he saw was his reflection. It was all black. It shifted and moved like a snake.

"Hello." said the reflection.

"Who are you?" asked Zant.

"I am the source of your power." said the reflection. "I provide the darkness energy that you wield. My name is Mephiles."

Zant looked around. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You are in the consciousness we share."

"'We share'? What do you mean by that?" asked Zant.

"I am imprisoned in your body. We are forced to share this vessel." said Mephiles.

"Why?" asked Zant.

"Ask your creators." said Mephiles.

"Creators?" asked Zant.

"We do not have much time left to speak." said Mephiles. "I must show you the secret to controlling the powers of darkness, before we part."

"I think I've used the powers once before…" said Zant.

"You were in a hopeless situation." Said Mephiles. "I was forced to step in and intervene or we both would have been killed. However I could only step in for a short period of time."

"I remember feeling ice so cold it burned…" said Zant.

"That is what darkness feels like." Said Mephiles. "It requires a heart that is cold, with no remorse, to wield it."

"I see…" said Zant, unsure if his heart was adequate to wield the power.

"Your heart is too weak." Said Mephiles. "It's so weak that it is pitiful. That's why you need to rely on my heart to do the task for you."

Zant nodded.

"If you need the power of darkness' help, then call upon it in your mind." Said Mephiles. "You need only to aim your arms in the directions you want the darkness to attack."

"It's as simple as that?" asked Zant.

"It's as simple as that." Said Mephiles firmly.

Zant nodded.

"Darkness can also protect you from attacks." Said Mephiles. "If you wish for it, darkness will spring up from the ground in front of you and act as a shield from attacks. Just command the darkness in your mind, and it will do as you ask. The darkness will do whatever you ask. You may even get creative with the darkness' power."

Zant nodded.

"I'm sure you will come up with different ways of utilizing the darkness." Said Mephiles. "Now the time has come to put it to the test. Remember, if you ever come across an enemy you can't defeat, call upon my power. Your strength will be multiplied tenfold."

"But I..." stammered Zant.

"Our time is up." said Mephiles. "I will see you again soon."

There was a bright light...

Silver woke up next to Will and Maddy.

As he steadily stood up, he looked around and witnessed chaos before him.

He saw a purple cat engaged in battle with a strange robot with a blimp shaped head.

"I've had enough of you, Johnny!" said the cat, who Silver had recognized as Blaze the Cat, queen of the Sol Zone.

"I'm going to send you back to Captain Whisker in pieces!"

"Ha!" said Johnny the robot she was fighting. He dodged a blast of fire from Blaze.

"You ain't gonna get rid of the captain, and you ain't gonna get rid of me!"

Dr. Eggman Nega and his team watched the fight.

Eggman Nega pointed at Blaze and Johnny and said "End the fight, and get Johnny to tell you where Captain Whisker is!"

Linkin, Aldez, and Keish nodded and charged toward Blaze and Johnny.

Silver noticed them and cried "Stop them!"

Silver shot a psychonesis wave at Linkin. There was a flash of light, and Linkin had appeared right next to Silver.

As Silver glanced towards Linkin, he felt about a millisecond of fear before he felt Linkin's sword cut him down.

Silver screamed, as he fell to the ground.

Not only had the sword cut him, but because Linkin was moving so fast, the friction from the attack had burned Silver as well as cut him. The feeling was like torture.

Silver twitched and held the wound.

Meanwhile, Aldez had engaged Maddy.

Maddy ran in supersonic circles around Aldez.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Aldez. "If you're going to attack, then attack!"

"Your funeral." said Maddy. There was a flash of blue and Maddy appeared in front of Aldez.

She kicked Aldez in the chest, struck her in the face then, backhanded her into the dirt.

Maddy was about to finish the attack with a drop kick, but a blue field appeared before Aldez, and Maddy's kick couldn't penetrate it.

Aldez teleported behind Maddy, and extended her hand. She fired an electric blast at Maddy who screamed.

She fell down, her back in intense pain from the attack.

Aldez kicked her while she was down.

Maddy's lip was bleeding. Maddy looked up and saw Aldez forming a ball of fire in her hands.

Maddy shot a blast of water at Aldez that knocked her off her feet.

Maddy stood up and drenched Aldez with another blast.

Aldez extended her arms and created two clones of her.

They attacked Maddy. She tried to fight them, but her attacks just passed through the clones. When Aldez's clone attacked Maddy, however, the attacks actually hurt her.

The real Aldez stood up and formed the ball of fire in her hands again.

While Maddy was distracted by the clones, Aldez tossed the ball of fire at Maddy.

The Aldez clones grabbed Maddy's arms and the ball of fire hit her dead center.

Aldez laughed. "Sorry, sweetheart. But it's going to take a lot more to defeat me."

Meanwhile, Will was battling Keish. Will had just guarded one of Keish's attacks. "You broke my arm once." said Will. "I think its about time I broke something of yours."

Keish tried to kick Will in the chest, but Will caught Keish's foot and twisted it.

"ARRGH!" cried Keish. "Give up." said Will. "My honor is not worth sacrificing." said Keish.

Keish grabbed something out of his pocket. It was a needle. Keish injected himself with the needle. Instantly, the pain in his foot was neutralized.

"That's better." said Keish. He grinned, and said "Now, where were we?"

Keish kicked Will in the face with his other foot. Will released his grip.

Then, Keish jumped up and roundhouse kicked Will in the head.

Will was sent spinning into a boulder.

Will tried to get up, but Keish ran over and grabbed Will's neck.

Keish picked Will up.

Will tried to burn Keish off of him, but it wasn't working. Keish frowned. "I don't understand you, Will. I thought you would be working with us instead of against us."

"But Silver said..."

"Silver's a fool. He's not a leader. Just a fool who's chasing after answers that aren't there. Everyone knows that Zant the Hedgehog is the reason the future is the way it is. Join us Will. Join us and help save the future."

"Pass." said Will.

"Join us or DIE!" cried Keish.

Will kicked Keish away from him. Then he slowly formed a spear of flame in his hand. "Chaos Flare!" cried Will.

Will tossed the spear. The spear hit the ground in front of Keish and the spear exploded. It blew Keish away.

During the fight, something blocked out the sun. Everyone looked up to see an airship that looked exactly like a pirate ship.

Standing in the crows nest was the robot captain known as the evil Captain Whisker. "Har har har har!" he laughed.

Johnny, who had been burned from Blaze's attacks, activated the jets in his feet and flew up to the deck of the ship.

Eggman Nega was standing next to Captain Whisker.

"Everyone get up here!" cried Eggman Nega.

Rope ladders were dropped from the ship. The three grabbed the rope ladders, and climbed onto the ship, as it flew away.

"Blast!" cried Blaze. "He got away!"

Silver walked up behind Blaze and said "They won't get far. Not without us knowing." Blaze turned to Silver and gave him a confused look.

Silver smiled. "I placed a homing beacon on their ship. They won't go anywhere without me knowing."

"Who are you?" asked Blaze.

"My name is Silver the Hedgehog." Will, and Maddy walked up to Silver and Blaze.

Silver gestured to them and said "This is Maddy, and Will."

Blaze smiled and said "Thank you all for your help." She shook Silver's hand.

Silver laughed and said "It was no problem. We were trailing an evil madman named Dr. Eggman Nega…"

"You've fought Dr. Nega too?" asked Blaze.

"Yes..." said Silver. "How do you know him?" asked Silver.

"He's an interdimensional terrorist. He and Mobius-Prime's Dr. Eggman invaded my world more then once." Said Blaze.

"Then we both know what we're up against." said Silver, as he looked at the tracking beacon on his wristwatch.

"The beacon leads to a valley somewhere in that general direction..." he said.

Blaze nodded. "That's the valley of the twin mountains. You could hold off an army there." she said.

"Which is, of course, Eggman Nega and Captain Whisker's intention." said Silver.

"We can't get there by foot." said Blaze. "We need a ship to get us there."

"Did somebody say 'ship', mate?" everyone turned behind them to see a small raccoon standing in a large vessel.

"G'day everyone!" said the raccoon. "My name's Marine, and this is the Ocean Tornado! Ain't she a beut?"

Blaze smiled. "Marine will take us there." she said.

Silver nodded and smiled. "Let's go everyone." he said. "Eggman Nega won't get far without us on his tail."


	6. Ricco's Mission, Eggman Nega Cornered!

Silver's wound had been bandaged by some healers that reside in Blaze the Cat's palace, however he was still unconscious.

Will and Maddy looked at him in the hospital room with worried looks on their faces.

Blaze came up behind the two of them and said "He will be alright. The doctor said that he had not been cut in any vital areas, and that the intense pain had made him pass out."

Will nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your help Blaze." He said.

Blaze smiled and nodded. "It was my pleasure. Thank you for your help against the invaders." She said.

"I'm Will." Said Will. He gestured to Maddy and said "This is Maddy."

Blaze shook both of their hands.

"You've fought Dr. Nega too?" asked Blaze. "You had seemed to be pursuing him, and that you had been previously acquainted."

"Yes..." said Will. "He's a criminal from the future of the Prime Zone, who is attempting to rewrite history. How do you know him?"

"He's an interdimensional terrorist. He and Mobius-Prime's Dr. Eggman invaded my world more then once in their mad attempts to conquer both worlds." Said Blaze.

"… how is that possible?" asked Will, who looked completely dumbfounded. "Eggman Nega only exists in my time period… there's no way up until now he could have gone back in time, much less be an interdimensional criminal in this time period…"

Blaze the Cat gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Will shook his head as he looked at his wristwatch, which was blinking. "It's not important right now." He said.

A virtual map appeared on the wristwatch. There was a blip blinking on an area with a lake in between 2 mountains.

He pointed to the area and said "Their location is here."

Blaze looked at the wristwatch map and nodded. "That's the valley of the Twin Mountains. You could hold off an army there." she said.

"Which is, of course, Eggman Nega and Captain Whisker's intention." said Maddy.

"We can't get there by foot." said Blaze. "We need a ship to get us there."

"Did somebody say 'ship', mate?" everyone turned behind them to see a small raccoon standing behind them.

"G'day everyone!" said the raccoon. "My name's Marine! I have a ship that can get you to where you need t' go!"

Blaze smiled. "Marine will take us there." she said.

"I guess we'll go without Silver." Said Will.

"No…" said Silver's voice, who was walking out of his hospital room.

"I'm coming too." He said.

Will rushed over to help him keep his balance. "But Silver…" said Will. "You can barely stand!"

"I can stand on my own, and I'm fine." Said Silver, irritated at Will's rush to help him. "Let's get going. You said you had a boat, right Marine?"

Ricco the Hedgehog, Zolo the Tiger, and Percy the Chameleon scoured the rooftops of Mercia. They were keeping an eye out for a squad containing between 3 to 5 robots they could attack.

Ricco had come to Mercia alongside Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat to investigate a distress signal that had been sent by Mercia several days ago.

What they had found was the entire city under siege by the Eggman Empire. The helicopter he was being escorted by was shot down by one of Eggman's defense drones. Thanks to the quick thinking of Shadow the Hedgehog, who used his power of Chaos Control to warp the three out of the copter before it had exploded, they were saved.

However, Shadow had teleported them onto Mercia's city streets, which were being patrolled by security drones.

Ricco had managed to regain consciousness thanks to his accelerated healing factor. However, Shadow and Rouge were still unconscious, and Ricco had to carry them to safety.

Eventually, he discovered the Mercian resistance, who were led by Mari-An, the wife of the King of Mercia: Rob O' the Hedge.

She told him that Mercia had been captured by the Eggman Empire, and that Rob O' the Hedge had been captured by them as well.

After learning the situation, Ricco vowed to help Mercia in its time off need. And so he went with Zolo and Percy to capture one of the sentries patrolling the city streets, and relay a distress signal to G.U.N. and their military forces would come down and provide Mercia with assistance.

Sounded easy enough.

Except that the sentries were ridiculously strong, and resilient. They were programmed to learn from their fallen comrades' defeats, so that the same tricks would not work on them twice.

So what could they do?

The Mercian guards had used virtually every trick in the book battling the sentries when they had first invaded Mercia, so getting the jump on them wouldn't be easy.

Their current plan was to find a squad of guardian sentries with as few members of the squad as possible, defeat all but one, and modify it so that they could contact G.U.N.

'But will it work?' thought Ricco, as he Zolo, and Percy leaped from roof top to roof top.

It was approaching nightfall. Ricco thought that perhaps it would make their job easier.

"It's approaching nightfall." Said Zolo. "This is bad."

"Why's that?" asked Ricco. "I thought the night sky would give us an advantage."

"You're wrong." Said Percy. "The robot sentries have infrared vision. They hunt better at night."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Ricco.

"I have some insulated cloaks at my home." Said Zolo. "They will shield our body heat from the sentries' infrared scopes."

Ricco nodded. "Well, let's make a quick trip there." He said. "Then we'll keep moving."

Zolo's house was unguarded. The robot sentries must have simply regarded it as an unsuspicious civilian home. That was a big mistake.

Truthfully, Zolo's house contained some of the most advanced stealth and infiltration equipment in all of Mercia.

But if the sentries knew that, they would have burned the house to the ground.

Ricco put the cloak on, feeling a bit silly.

Zolo smiled. "You look like a spirit of vengeance." He said.

"I feel like I'm wearing a bed sheet." Said Ricco.

Percy laughed.

Zolo looked a bit insulted. "Rest assured, that cloak will make you completely invisible from the robot's infrared sensors." He said.

"Yes…" said Ricco sarcastically. "That makes me feel a lot less ridiculous."

"Well, let's keep going." Said Percy. "We're wasting time staying here longer then we have to."

And so the three went back to scouring the roof tops.

There were guardian sentries all over Mercia. They were all in squads of six, or seven, so things looked bleak.

Eventually, as they scoured the roof tops, they came across a squad of two guardian sentries, who were guarding a local tea shop.

The three stopped and hid behind a chimney. When he saw their prey, Percy smiled. "What luck we have!" he whispered. "We outnumber them!"

"I wouldn't be so hasty." Said Zolo.

"What do you mean?" asked Percy.

"Why would two robot sentries guard a tea shop for no apparent reason?" asked Zolo. "It's obviously a trap."

"Not necessarily." Said Percy.

Zolo gave Percy a strange look.

"What do you mean?" asked Ricco. "It's such an obvious trap it's sad."

"Maybe they're guarding a robot sentry factory of some sorts. Or a base of operations." Said Percy.

"Then why would there only be two guards at the front entrance?" asked Ricco.

Percy nodded. "I see your point." He said.

"Well, in any case that's the smallest amount of guards we've seen today." Said Ricco. "Maybe there's some way we can lure the two to us? In case there are more guards waiting inside of the tea shop for a signal from the other two guards?"

"I think that we are making rash actions out of desperation, mis amigos." Said Zolo. "We have only found squads of six or more guardian sentries all day. This is bait that we should not take. We really must move on."

Zolo began to walk off. Ricco got up and followed.

"It seems they have refused to take the bait." Said a robotic voice from behind them. "However this was in range of predictability."

The three turned to see three robotized Mobians.

One of them was a hedgehog wearing a brown cloak.

Another was a coyote wearing an odd looking uniform.

Finally, the last one was a bunny rabbit wearing a cowboy hat.

Ricco's eyes grew wide with shock and horror. "I-impossible…" he stammered. "You three… Rob O' the Hedge, Antoine D'Coolette, and Bunnie D'Coolette… you've all been robotized!"

Zolo and Percy watched their robotized king with horror.

"My king…" stammered Zolo with sad horror in his voice.

"You are all under arrest for crimes of treason towards the Eggman Empire." said the robotized Rob. "Failure to comply will result in death."

Ricco drew both of his swords. "Looks like we've got no choice, guys." He said. "We have to fight if we're going to get out of here alive."

"By now the rest of the guards have been made aware of our situation." Said Zolo, who drew his saber.

Percy drew his sword. "We're cornered." He said. "Its hopeless."

"Not quite." Said Ricco. "I won't go down without a fight."

"It seems you have chosen death." Said Rob. "These three robotized minions of mine will engage the three of you, without guardian sentry interference so that I may test their limits. You will be destroyed."

"I'll take the king." Said Ricco. "You two take the others."

"The swordsman is mine." Said Zolo.

"Then I'll handle the girl." Said Percy.

The three charged at their robot opponents…

Sonic dodged another blow from the gigantic golem he was fighting. He lost track of the amount of time he was spending fighting, but he was exhausted.

"This is ridiculous!" he said. "I can't hurt this guy at all, and it seems like he gets stronger and stronger as time passes on!"

"Because that is what's happening here." Said a voice.

Sonic looked up to see someone actually riding the Golem!

"The longer you fight my Golem, the more exhausted and tired you will get." Said the voice.

"Eventually, you won't be able to keep it up anymore, and you'll pass out from exhaustion. That will leave you vulnerable for my Golem to deliver the final blow."

Sonic could feel his exhaustion increasing. He was telling the truth.

"What kind of test is this?" asked Sonic.

"Rest assured." Said the voice from the person riding the Golem. "The Order of the Phoenix is much more powerful then us. We're preparing you for the horrors you will experience when you face them. You should be thanking us."

Sonic dodged another attack from the Golem.

"Thanks a lot!" he cried, sarcastically.

The Golem raised his palm towards Sonic. A slot extended from the hand, which began to glow yellow. Then a large beam of light shot from his hand at Sonic, and created a large explosion where Sonic was standing.

Sonic barely dodged it in time.

"What is the point of all this?" he cried, as he landed on another brick path.

"The point is to teach you a new way to utilize your speed." Said Spiral, who walked up from behind him.

"How?" asked Sonic.

"The Golem has its front protected completely. Its clear that its weakness is its backside, but if you can't reach it what do you do? Your spin dash won't work, you have no way of getting behind it by foot, going over it is out of the question, there's no way you can pass under it… so what is your only other option?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

Spiral smiled and said "You go through it."

"How do I do that if I can't spin dash through it?" asked Sonic.

"You've yet to learn what you can truly do with your speed." Said Spiral. "Believe it or not Sonic, you have the ability to pass through solid objects with your speed."

Sonic's eyes grew wide with shock. "Say what?" he cried.

All of a sudden, the Golem faded from view, as well the room around him. As it all faded away, a new room came into view. A circular grey room with chrome tiles spread out across the floor.

Sonic and Spiral were floating in mid-air as the room faded. Then they slowly began to float back down with the floor.

"What you just experienced was the test you must pass once you gain more and more control over your powers." Said Spiral. "Now I am going to teach you the first new way to utilize your speed Sonic. By passing through solid objects…"

Zant woke up in a grey circular room.

As he stood up, he pondered about what had happened. Had his encounter with Mephiles been real? Or had it only been some sort of dream, or trance?

He heard sound of someone approaching from behind him.

He turned around to see a tall, gray furred wolf approaching him.

"My name is Wendu." Said the voice. "I will be aiding you in your mastery of your powers over darkness. Before we begin, I am guessing you were able to make contact?"

Zant blinked, slightly confused. "Made contact? With that darkness creature?" he asked.

Wendu smiled. "I suppose that's a yes." He said. "Now, I'd like to test your strength. Come at me with everything you have and try to land a blow on me."

Zant scratched his head. "Um… okay?" he said.

Zant charged at him with his dual bladed sword. Right before he was about to land a blow to the side of Wendu's face, he disappeared and teleported behind him. He tried to trip him up with his blade, but Wendu jumped and dodged the attack.

Taken by surprise that Wendu dodged his attack, Zant teleported in front of him and tried to roundhouse kick him.

Amazingly, Wendu blocked the attack with the back of his hand.

Zant performed a barrage of teleporting kicks and slashes with his swords, but Wendu blocked them all with his hands, or dodged them.

Eventually, Zant gave up. Exhausted, he began to gasp for air.

"Seems that we have a lot to work with." Said Wendu.

Zant glared at his mysterious teacher in anger. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Wendu gave him a funny smile. "Nothing. I'm just commenting about your potential."

Wendu walked towards Zant and put his arm on his shoulder. "The first thing we're going to work on is showing you how to use your ability to create black holes…"

The Ocean Tornado sailed across the blue and beautiful oceans of the Sol Zone.

Silver, Will, Maddy, and Blaze watched the sea, always keeping an eye out for signs of an enemy trap.

Marine piloted the ship happily. Laughing, she said "Feel that sea breeze in your hair? Its like ..." She threw her arms into the air and cried "PARADISE!"

"Marine! Quiet!" said Blaze. "The sound of your voice could set off some kind of..."

Out of the sides of a canyon, canons formed out of the rock. They fired canon balls at the ship. Silver threw up a psychonesis field around the ship. When the canon balls passed through the field, they were suspended in the air. Then, Silver sent the balls back at the canons. The balls exploded and the canons were destroyed.

Silver laughed. "They'll have to do more then that!" he said.

"This is a very old Whisker Pirate hideout." Said Blaze. "These traps are very outdated."

"So why would they choose this place as their hideout?" asked Maddy.

"Because they don't intend to stay long." Said Silver.

Eventually, the ship approached a large, skull shaped Isle.

Will's tracker began to make beeping noises. It had detected the location of the enemy's base, and it was coming from that isle.

Will scratched his chin. 'We've found it already?' Thought Silver.

"I thought the isle would be more protected." said Blaze.

"Well, we better be ready for anything." said Maddy.

Marine steered the ship into the bay surrounding the isle.

On the isle was a giant, iron fortress. As everyone exited the ship, Blaze told Marine to stay behind.

"But why?" asked Marine, angrily.

"It's too dangerous." said Blaze. "Plus, you'll just get in the way."

"Get in the way?" cried Marine. "When have I ever gotten in the way? I'm always an incredible asset during combat!"

Blaze crossed her arms and frowned. "Remember the incident with Metal Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog?" she asked.

Marine looked at the ground sadly. "Yes..." she said.

"Stay here." said Blaze. "We'll contact you if you need any help."

Marine crossed her arms angrily. "Aw, alright." she said.

Silver, Blaze, Will, and Maddy ran off.

Eventually they came across the entrance, which was blocked by two iron doors.

Blaze turned to Silver and asked "Can you get those doors open?"

"Of course." Said Silver sternly. He made a motion with his hands that he was opening a door. As he moved his farther apart, sort of like he was straining to open the door, he used his psychonesis to open the giant, iron doors blocking the entrance, and the team rushed inside the compound.

The robotic engineers of Captain Whisker's crew had nearly completed the portal to the Special Zone. The portal was massive, almost going to the roof of the complex.

Whisker's fleet was prepped and ready for their assault.

Captain Whisker walked towards Eggman Nega, who was busy observing preparation of the fleet and asked "Why exactly are we building a portal to the Special Zone?"

Eggman Nega frowned. "Because, the poor, outdated technology of Mobius requires more power to operate then the technology of the future. So we're going to go to the Special Zone to gather some Chaos Emeralds."

Captain Whisker shifted uncomfortably. "You do know the rumors, right?" asked Captain Whisker.

Eggman Nega snorted. "About some god-like entity called 'Feist' guarding the zone? Utter nonsense."

Captain Whisker shook his head. "No, they're true! Feist challenges all of those who enter his zone. Those who complete his challenge are awarded with a Chaos Emerald. There are also rumors that the Ultimate Lifeform stole an Emerald from him, and that he is in utter rage of the theft."

"The Ultimate Lifeform?" repeated Eggman Nega. "My Great-Great-Grandfather, Professor Gerald's creation?"

Captain Whisker nodded.

Eggman Nega scratched his chin. "I am sure that we will be fine. If not, we can send in Linkin, Aldez and Keish, to take care of things."

Johnny ran up to Captain Whisker and Eggman Nega and said "Our portal is operational."

Eggman Nega smiled. "Excellent. Let's begin, shall we?"

Linkin, Aldez, and Keish walked up to Eggman Nega. "Doctor," said Linkin. "Why are we not going to Mobius Prime?"

Eggman Nega frowned. "We'll head for the Prime Zone once we've made a stop in the Special Zone. Now leave me to my work!"

Eggman Nega turned and walked away.

Linkin growled. Linkin turned to Aldez and Keish and said "We're being used."

Keish crossed his arms and said "Obviously."

"But he's the only way we can get to Mobius-Prime. We have no other choice but to do as he asks." said Aldez.

"Which greatly annoys me." said Linkin.

"So what do we do?" asked Keish.

"Want a hint?" said a voice from above. Silver, Blaze, Will, and Maddy, dropped in front of the three.

"Hold still." said Silver, who shot a psychonesis wave at the three. The three were knocked into a wall.

Johnny looked to see what was going on. Blaze shot a blast of fire at him.

After the smoke disappeared, Johnny jumped down and attacked.

Silver caught him with Psychonesis, but Linkin beamed up to Silver in a flash of light and banged his sword hilt on the back of Silver's head. Silver's concentration was broken, and Johnny landed.

Keish grabbed Will and held a kunai knife to his throat. "You always were stupid." said Keish. "Do you even have a plan?" he asked.

"Who says we don't have a plan?" asked Will.

Blaze blasted Keish with fire, who went flying ablaze into a wall.

Meanwhile, Silver was surrounded by Linkin, Johnny, and Aldez.

Silver cried "NOW!" and jumped.

Maddy, who was standing behind the circle surrounding Silver blasted all three with a giant blast of water. The three were washed away down a corridor.

When they tried to get up, Silver pinned them down to the ground with psychonesis. "Now, Blaze!" he cried.

Blaze formed a giant tornado of fire that sucked the three inside. Will's hands were on fire, and he dove into the blazing tornado. As he dove, the fire from his hands began to cover him, and he resembled a meteor.

His attack hit all three of them, which made them all go flying in different directions.

Aldez was down for the count, and Johnny had excessive damage done to his body. Linkin could hardly stand.

Keish looked up to see what had happened.

When he saw what had happened to his comrades, he had to think of something. He tossed a kunai knife at Silver's and ran towards Will.

The knife hit Silver in the back, right where his wound was and Keish tried to stab Will.

Will turned and saw the attack. The knife slashed his arm, but Will blocked the attack.

"SILVER!" cried Maddy. Maddy and Blaze dashed over to see Silver, while Blaze stood over him.

Will tossed Keish aside.

Keish pulled a needle out of a pouch in his pocket and ejected himself with it. Keish's muscles began to twitch and grow.

Will charged at Keish, trying to punch his lights out but Keish kept dodging them.

Silver was bleeding badly.

Maddy had gently removed the knife and was using her powers to heal him.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Blaze.

"I don't know! I'll try to use my powers to keep him alive, but he needs medical treatment!" cried Maddy.

"Do what you can. I'm going to punish the one who did this." said Blaze.

She ran towards Will and Keish.

Something was wrong.

His speed had increased ten fold. Will couldn't even touch him!

"Will, move!" cried Blaze. "This is my fight."

Will jumped out of the way.

Keish turned towards Blaze and smiled tauntingly. "So you're my opponent?" he asked. Keish's voice had gotten deeper, darker.

Blaze nodded. Blaze launched a blast of fire at Keish.

Keish leaped into the air and dodged the attack. Keish drop-kicked into Blaze. Blaze black flipped out of the way.

Keish made a crater in the ground when he landed.

Blaze tossed fireballs at him.

They hit Keish in the chest. Keish laughed, unfazed from the attack.

He dashed towards Blaze.

Blaze dodged his left hook. His punch made a hole in the metal wall behind Blaze.

Blaze shot a jet of flame at Keish at point-blank range. The blast knocked him off his feet, and he was sent spiraling off the railing.

Thinking quickly, he pulled out a kunai knife and tied a piece of rope around it. He tossed it into the wall behind Blaze.

Keish swung under the railing, ran up the wall behind it, and slammed both legs into Blaze. She was sent flying towards the other end of the rail.

Keish laughed maniacally. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he said. Black markings soon formed across his body.

"What's happening to him?" asked Blaze.

Keish laughed some more.

Blaze dashed up and kicked Keish in the face. Flames shot from the heel on her boot into his eyes.

"MY EYES!" cried Keish. Keish pulled out two more kunai knives from his belt and started to swing them wildly.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR!" he cried, as he charged at Blaze again.

Will dashed towards him and punched Keish in the face before he could strike Blaze. Blood spewed from Keish's nose.

"What are you doing?" asked Blaze. "I told you, this was my fight!"

"We're wasting too much time." Said Will. "We need to hurry and apprehend him!"

Blaze nodded. "Fine." She said angrily.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot past Blaze and blew up the wall behind her, the shock wave knocking her to the ground.

She barely stood up in time to block a blow from Keish.

Will jammed his fist into Keish's spine, making it crack. Keish cried out in pain. Then, Will wrapped his arms across Keish's waist and leaped off of the railing, spiraling towards the ground below. The impact caused a crater and a large amount of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Keish was on the ground unconscious and Will was on his knees gasping for breath.

Keish was down. He had done it.

Meanwhile, Linkin had tried to attack Blaze with a light attack, but he failed. Blaze attacked Linkin with a kick to the head to knock him unconscious.

Blaze gasped for air.

All of their opponents were down. They had done it.

Behind them, a voice was heard laughing. "Not quite!" said the laughing voice.

Suddenly, Blaze, Will, and Maddy fell to the ground. It felt as if their weight had quadrupled. They couldn't get up.

The sound of jets was heard sailing towards the rail.

"Introducing my latest and greatest creation…" said the voice. "Metal Silver."

The voice laughed at Metal Silver's robotic foot steps edged closer and closer towards them.

In a matter of hours the entire factory was up and running again. The robot sentries were under control, and construction of a massive Egg Carrier had already begun.

And it had all been done without Dr. Thompson lifting a finger.

"Incredible." Said Magnus, who watched the factory with awe. "You've got the whole factory up and running in a matter of hours."

Dr. Thompson smiled. "My nanobots are very handy. This factory will perform as well as it always has. Once the Egg Carrier is complete, then we will take it to Mercia and strike."

Magnus gave him a confused look. "Strike?" he asked. "Why are we attacking Mercia?"

"You apparently aren't aware of the news…" said Thompson. "Mercia has been captured by the Eggman Empire. There are Eggman Empire sentries running all amuck in the city. However, all of those sentries are vulnerable to my nanobots."

"So what you're saying is…" said Magnus.

Thompson smile grew wider. "We're going to take Dr. Eggman's control of Mercia away from him, and the city will be turned over to us."

"Leader ordered us to do that?" asked Magnus.

"Yes." Said Thompson. "It seems he has some sort of fascination with the city."

"When do we attack?" asked Magnus.

"We're awaiting some reinforcements from the Order. Spectre and Bullseye are going back to base to report for a capture mission. Ares, Ragdoll, and Morphus are being sent to aid us. Some new recruits are also being sent."

"New recruits?" asked Magnus.

"Yes. Their codenames are Swarm, Primal, and Blizzard. Leader says that they are experts at combat, and will not fail to aid us." Said Dr. Thompson. "In the meantime, I'd prepare yourself for battle. It may be an intense fight if there are more then just Eggman Sentries guarding the city."

Magnus sighed. "Now leader's got us fighting wars for him. I will have a few words to say to our chief when we finally meet him." He said.

"I can see why Bullseye was so eager to leave." Said Detonator, who walked in on the two. "Obviously your complaining got to him. Honestly, do you ever stop, Magnus?"

Magnus angrily turned to Detonator and asked "Do you ever get tired of doing these mysterious and questionable assignments when we don't even know who we're working for or what we're working towards? Especially when they are so exhausting and tedious."

"Well, if you don't like it, Magnus, you can always leave the Order." Said Detonator, who flashed Magnus an evil grin. "Of course, we'd have to kill you so that we can be sure that you'd never leak any information about the Order to anyone, but if you're up for an early retirement then go right ahead."

Magnus gave Detonator an irritated look. "I never said I was leaving…"

"Then quit your complaining and do your job."

"Fine."

Magnus and Detonator went to get themselves ready for the battle/

Thompson watched the two leave with a smile on his face. "Aren't we a happy little family?" he said to himself sarcastically.

He turned over to the development of the Egg Carrier.

'This will be the start of the many things that I will take from you, Robotnik.' Thought Thompson. 'Once you've lost everything, I will be there laughing. Just like how you took everything from me, and tried to kill me. Well I will take everything from you. Only this time I won't fail to kill you."

The robotized Rob O' the Hedge fired arrows at Ricco, who drew his swords.

The arrows turned out to be heat seeking missiles, that Ricco had a difficult time avoiding.

Ricco ran alongside a wall, and the missiles followed. Ricco leaped off of the wall, and the missiles exploded when they hit the wall.

Ricco leaped up and brought both swords down onto Rob, who blocked them with his metal bow.

Ricco landed on his feet and made several more strikes at Rob with his blades. Rob used his bow to block each of the strikes. Irritated, Ricco performed a sweep kick which tripped Rob up.

Rob fell to the ground. Ricco tried to pin Rob to the ground, but Rob rolled across the floor and regained his footing. Rob leaped back and shot several more exploding arrows at Ricco.

Ricco sheathed one of his swords and pulled out a pistol. He shot one of the arrows, and it exploded, setting the other arrows off.

Once the smoke cleared, Ricco attacked Rob again, with both swords drawn. He struck Rob, but Rob blocked the attack with his bow yet again.

Ricco tried everything he could, from horizontal strikes, to verticals, to parries, but Rob blocked them all.

Rob then fired an arrow at the ground, and it exploded, blasting Ricco and Rob away from each other.

Ricco was the first to recover. "What was the point of that?" he thought out loud.

He could see Rob recovering from the attack within the ashes. Suddenly, three more arrows shot from the smoke.

Ricco saw them coming and leaped as high as he could into the air, dodging the massive blast.

Rob looked up, searching for his prey who was no where to be found. Suddenly, a hail of bullets shot at him from the sky.

The bullets pierced through his armor. The robotized hedgehog began to wonder what metal the bullets were made of if they were able to pierce through his armor so easily.

Rob deflected some of the bullets with his bow.

Then Ricco did a surprise charge at Rob through the smoke. In one hand was a sword, in another was a gun. Ricco struck Rob with his sword, which he blocked. With both arms occupied blocking Ricco's sword strike, Ricco took the gun and shot the robotized hedgehog in the shoulder.

Rob gripped the wound on his shoulder, which was electrocuting. He backed up slightly.

Before Ricco could press on the attack, he pulled out an explosive arrow from the pouch on his back, and threw it at the ground. When it exploded, the ceiling began to cave in and collapse. Ricco and Rob fell into the building they were fighting on top of through the roof.

Ricco hit the ground hard, and he had to push some debris off of him. He looked around for his enemy in all the dust and smoke from the wreckage. He found him. Only, Rob was surrounded by a squad of what seemed to be at least a dozen robot sentries.

"This one is weak." Said one of the sentries. "He will be taken in for maintenance. In the mean time, we will have to be the ones to destroy you."

The first of the robot sentries charged at Ricco, who ducked underneath a blow from the sentry's paralyzing battle staff, drew his swords, and back flipped away from him.

Twirling his swords, Ricco ran towards his enemy, but suddenly leaped onto a wall, bounced off of it towards the wall that was across it, then bounced off of it and dove into his opponent. In one swift motion, Ricco managed to behead his robotic enemy, who's robotic corpse fell to the ground.

Ricco landed on his knee. Then he stood up, faced his remaining opponents and smiled. "Is that all you got?" he asked. His remaining opponents charged at him in their cold robotic fury. Ricco's smile grew bigger as he charged at them.

Zolo and the robotized Antoine had fallen off of the rooftop they were originally on, and were dueling in the city streets. As their sword strikes collided with each other, sparks flew into the air. While Zolo was the best swordsman in all of Mercia, Antoine had already analyzed the technique, and succeeded in blocking each of Zolo's strikes.

Both of their swords met, and both swordsmen pressed their blades against each other, trying to force his enemy into submission.

'This is ridiculous.' Thought Zolo. 'I have a King and a Kingdom to save. This opponent of mine is just wasting time. I do not care if he's not an Order of the Phoenix member, I am going to use my true power against him and the other sentries and I'm going to take back Mercia even if I have to do it all on my own!'

Zolo sidestepped, and Antoine's weight caused him to fall forward.

He tumbled and rolled across the floor to avoid a strike from behind by Zolo, then slashed at Zolo's feet.

Zolo jumped into the air and brought his sword down on Antoine, who blocked the strike with his blade.

'That does it.' Thought Zolo, who backflipped away from him.

Zolo pointed his sword at Antoine. Suddenly, Zolo began to glow reddish-pink and a blast of energy shot out of his sword.

Antoine barely sideflipped in time to dodge the attack.

The laser went flying behind him, and it cause an explosion of energy.

Zolo swung his sword, and ripples of energy that resembled sword slices went flying at Antoine.

Antoine couldn't dodge these, but something strange happened when the strikes struck him. His internal systems seemed to completely shut down, and his body depowered itself.

Antoine was no longer capable of CPU-driven thought, as he completely shut down and ceased to move anymore.

Zolo sheathed his sword. "This unfortunate soul needs help." He said. "And the only people on Mobius who can help him, our king, and Ms. D'Coolette are the Order of the Celestites."

He placed Antoine's robotized body behind a dumpster in an alleyway and ran off to aid either Ricco or Percy in their battles.

The fully robotized Bunnie D'Coolette carried Percy by the collar of his shirt across the skies of Mercia.

Percy struggled to break free of Bunnie's grip, but he was failing. He could feel the clouds around him as they flew in the air, which gave him an idea.

He smiled and said "You know, you robots really aren't as smart as make yourselves out to be."

He drew the moisture from the clouds and felt his strength increasing. Percy gains strength when he is exposed to water, so by drawing the moisture from the clouds, Percy gained enough strength to break free of Bunnie's grip.

As he fell, he grabbed Bunnie's foot and threw her down towards the city below.

She bounced off of a few of the buildings before sliding to a stop. As she did, tiles from the floor were uprooted, and went flying away. Before she could recover, Percy charged at her and kneed her in the stomach, a blow that would have devastated a regular Mobian, but only slowed down a Robian.

Percy drew a sword from the holster on his belt, and struck Bunnie with it, however she guarded the blade with small force fields that appeared to around her arms.

The force from the impact of the blade had made her slide backwards. Then Percy ran up and kicked her, and sent her flying through several buildings into a lake.

Percy smiled and chased after her through the holes in the buildings she created. Then he leaped after into the lake.

As Bunnie tried to regain her senses, she realized where she was and immediately tried to use the rockets in her feet to get out of the lake. But the rockets wouldn't work.

Suddenly, she felt a blow that sent her flying through the water. Then another blow from no where struck her, and she went flying in the opposite direction.

A barrage of several more blows kept striking her and sending her flying, until one final blow devastated the robot body and prevented it from moving anymore.

Bunnie's body shut down, and her body fell into the arms of Percy.

Percy swam back up to surface with amazing speed, faster then any of the fish swimming around them, and he carried her body to shore.

Once he was at shore, he sat her body down. "My strength increases when I am exposed to water." Said Percy to the body. "When I am in a body of water, I'm nearly invincible. You had no chance against me."

Percy stood up and began to run back towards town. If Ricco or Zolo still needed his help, he had to hurry to them right away.

The Egg Carrier was prepped and ready. It carried legions of nanobot-controlled Eggman Empire sentries, who were going to be used to spread the nanobots to all of the technology in Mercia.

It was a flawless plan, and it ensured complete control of the city. Regardless of all of this though, Magnus was still complaining.

Swarm the Lynx, Primal the Dog, and Blizzard the Cat had finally shown up at the factory entrance and they were greeted by himself, Detonator, and Thompson, who had demanded to be called "Mechanist."

"Leader instructed me to inform you of our battle plan." Said Mechanist. "But before I do, I want to see what the three of you can do."

Blizzard stepped up first. He extended his hand and shot a blast of ice at his partner, Primal. Primal went flying into a tree near the entrance of the factory.

"Hey!" cried Mechanist. "I said demonstrate your powers, not kill each other!"

"We are." Said Blizzard with a smile.

Primal stood up growling. "Blizzard, what was that for?" he cried.

"Well now, how else were you going to show him your powers of absorption and repulsion?" asked Blizzard who smiled. "There's no one else here who's attacks you can absorb."

Primal grabbed Blizzard and flash froze him where he stood. Suddenly, the ice cracked and crumbled off of Blizzard.

"I can withstand ice and the cold, remember Primal?" asked Blizzard.

Primal growled at Blizzard, with pure hatred in his eyes. Then he turned over to Mechanist, who was glaring at him. The expression on the Mechanists face told Primal that he had been regarded as a simple animal, such as his namesake.

He took a deep breath, trying not to let his rage consume him.

"I can also repel elemental and energy type attacks. I cannot repel physical attacks, but that's no problem to me thanks to my enhanced strength."

Mechanist nodded. Then he turned to Swarm, who had been silent the entire time. "And what can you do?" he asked.

Blizzard and Primal stepped back, obviously uncomfortable with Swarm showing off his powers.

Swarm extended his arms, and they suddenly began to break apart and fly in different directions. It turned out that his body was made entirely out of tiny insectoid creatures. They flew into the air swarming all around the group.

The sight was incredibly sickening.

"My body is entirely made up of these insectoid creatures. They allow me to fly, slip through tiny cracks, change my shape, and dodge almost any direct attack by shifting my mass the right way." Said Swarm.

"Impressive…" said Mechanist.

Detonator and Magnus were obviously disturbed from the sight.

Mechanist turned towards the entrance of the base and gestured for the others to follow. "Our mission is simple." He said as the five followed him inside. "We are to capture the land of Mercia, which has already been captured by Dr. Eggman. Thanks to him, his robot sentries and enslaving technology is all over the place, which gives us an advantage."

"What advantage?" asked Blizzard.

"From an Egg Carrier manufactured at this factory we have taken over, we will release my nanobots all over the city." Said Mechanist. "Once their released, they will take control of all of the technology over the land. That would take the city directly out of Dr. Eggman's hands, giving us control of the city."

Blizzard smiled. "Hostile takeover. I like that." He said. "But what are the rest of us going to do?"

"There's an object of mystical power that our leader is searching for. It is known as the Staff of Kings. You are to search for it." Said Mechanist.

"Where would it be?" asked Swarm.

"It is somewhere underneath the castle." Said Mechanist. "So far as we know, the staff is unguarded. I would prepare yourselves however. It may get messy."

Primal smiled. "Messy is how I prefer things." He said.

Percy ran back towards Ricco and Zolo's direction to find a large squad of drones marching through the streets. They looked like they were escorting something. Percy ducked into a nearby alleyway out of sight as they paraded down the streets. As they marched past him, he saw that two of the robots were carrying something.

That something was Ricco's body.

Percy prayed that it was just his body, and not his corpse.

Suddenly, a hail of spear shaped blasts of energy rained down from overhead.

Percy looked up to see the two friends of Ricco that were unconscious before staring down at the robot sentries.

"You have someone that belongs with us." The black hedgehog with red stripes said, his hands glowing with energy.

The hedgehog and the bat next to him both charged into the army of sentries, letting out a ferocious battle cry.

To be continued.

Next time: We take a look into the past at the origins of the Order of the Phoenix and the Order of the Celestites, as well as the war and coup that started their epic war that still goes on today, as well as the ancestors of some of the characters we all know today!

Everyone looked up to see Linkin, Aldez, Keish, Metal Silver, and Johnny standing on the deck of Captain Whisker's ship. Behind them was an unconscious Silver, tied up. "You've all been fighting illusions cast by Aldez." said Linkin. "And now, you're too late to stop us!" The giant portal activated. The ships began to fly through it. "No!" cried Will. "Silver!" cried Maddy. Suddenly a boomerang sailed into Linkin's face. Everyone looked to see Marine standing in a window. "You nasty landlubbers have angered the great Captain Marine! Prepare to be defeated!" Marine leaped onto the ship where the five were standing. Johnny ran up from behind and grabbed her. "Hold still you little brat!" cried Johnny. "Let go!" cried Marine. She pulled out a dynamite pack out of her pocket. As soon as Johnny saw the dynamite, he let go. "Ha ha!" she cried. "Is that all you got?" Suddenly, the ship began to go into the portal. "Uh, oh." said Marine. The ship went inside of the portal. "Marine!" cried Blaze. "After them!" The four jumped on another ship and followed the rest of the fleet into the Special Zone.


End file.
